


The More Things Change

by NeoVenus22



Category: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Alternate Universe, Gen, Original Team, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-01-10
Updated: 2010-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-06 02:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. A blunder by Zeltrax alters the timeline so that the five Dino Thunder Rangers aren't the Rangers. Who takes the gems in their places? How will this new team fare? And what happens when Conner starts remembering what never happened?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Zeltrax had failed his master for the last time. Or so Mesogog had claimed, after Zeltrax had screwed up yet another plot to destroy the Power Rangers. If he failed one more time, he'd been told, he would be terminated. And the cyborg had no doubt in his addled mind that the reptilian overlord that had given him life would take it away without a second thought.

Zeltrax could save his hide, buying some time by doing something small but powerful for his master. What he had in mind was simple, the alteration of the Triptoids so that they'd be even more powerful when they went against the Rangers. He wasn't nearly as adept with the machinery around the lab as Elsa was, hence his botch-up and the creation of Goldenrod. But his calculations were fairly simple, and he had no doubts that his plan was infallible. He assembled the Triptoids and shoved them into the genome randomizer, adding in the chemicals according to his notes. The machine flared to life, a purplish haze settling over the wiggling Triptoids as they huddled en masse and absorbed Zeltrax's energy boost.

"ZELTRAX!" bellowed his cohort, and with a slight sense of panic settling over him, the cyborg hastened to shut off the machine. Elsa had vowed that if she caught him using the genome randomizer again, she would slice off things he would find valuable, things that Mesogog would be unable to repair. There was validity in the threat, because Elsa's psychotic streak was one of the things he most admired about her.

He flicked switches, the machine still humming as he pulled the Triptoids out in rapid series. He could hear her leather boots echoing down the chamber, coming closer and closer to the lab. With a slight growl of frustration, Zeltrax summoned an invisoportal. He had to get the shimmering, half-infused Triptoids out of here before Elsa saw and reported his misconduct to Mesogog.

"Go," he hissed, pushing the endlessly writhing, babbling mass of them through the portal, and whirling to face Elsa as she banged into the room. The portal closed just a fraction of a second before Elsa had entered, but his back had already been to it, too late to notice that instead of its usual green glow, the portal had been purple like the energy feeding into the Triptoids in his aborted experiment.

"What on earth are you doing, bumbling around in the lab unsupervised?" she said darkly. "If our master catches his grunt doing something beyond his station and intellectual capabilities, he will destroy you without reservation."

"I am aware," said Zeltrax slowly, wishing for perhaps the first time ever that she would just go away. She gave him the once-over with a disapproving eye, and obeyed his silent wishes by flouncing off. Zeltrax let out a raspy breath he'd been unaware of holding, and reopened the portal in an attempt to continue his work.

But the portal was a dead link. The Triptoids did not wait at the other end of it, nor anywhere within it. When Zeltrax tested out the portal himself, it took him exactly two feet forward in the lab.

The Triptoids were missing.

 

* * *

**The Day Of The Dino**

Dr. Tommy Oliver dismissed Cassidy Cornell's questions, and waited for her to sit down, before he gave his opening day speech, and swept his gaze over the classroom. Half the kids were looking at him with mild, first-day, new-teacher interest; the other half didn't seem to care one way or another. It was not unlike when Tommy had been in high school science. The room was full, except for one empty stool at the front table. He hadn't taken attendance yet, but he'd done a head count, and when he glanced down at the roster, the numbers didn't match. "Is someone missing?"

 

* * *

 

Conner McKnight was the star of Reefside High School. He was the boy who had made the varsity soccer team as only a freshman. He was the boy that was conceivably the best to look at in his school, the ones the girls flocked to and fawned over. Conner had lived his high school career admired and respected, and he walked all over his teachers. Any trouble that he got himself into, he got himself out of just as quickly with a reassuring, charming smile. Conner believed that nothing was beyond his reach, and that he could get away with anything, and he was right. So he had no worries whatsoever as he loitered on the soccer field that morning, effectively skipping first period. The light breeze panned over his body in the bright morning sunshine, as he stared down his heavily padded freshman goalie, bouncing the soccer ball all over his body in a dramatic show that had the goalie shaking in his shoes. Conner was barely even trying, he was merely showing off, particularly when he launched into a spectacular kick that made the ball soar past his hapless opponent and nearly knock over the net. Conner sighed, slumping slightly in frustration, and groaned, "Dude, you're supposed to try and stop it."

"You _sure_ we're not going to get in trouble for this?" the freshman whined. Conner sighed again elaborately as the boy continued. "I mean, the bell rang, and it's the first day."

"Look," said Conner, just barely clinging onto patience, explaining this yet again. "If anyone says anything, tell them Conner McKnight gave you permission to be out here." He gestured at himself when he spoke his name, as though it would emphasize his point in a way that his words couldn't.

"Yeah, but I heard the new principal is crazy. She worked in a prison or something before she came here."

Conner laughed shortly, already bored. "Don't worry about Randall. She's a woman! And women are just... grown up girls." The freshman waved his hands quickly and made a sound. "Need I say more?" finished Conner.

"I think you've said quite enough, Mr. McKnight," came the icy voice from behind him, the source of the freshman's panic.

Conner blew out his breath before turning slowly and giving her his best smile, the one oozing with charm, that he only saved for the most dire of circumstances. "Principal Randall," he said, trying to find a balance in his tone between gushing and smarmy. "I have heard such _great_ things about you."

"Vicious rumors, I can assure you," she said, fixing him with a no-nonsense stare. Already Conner missed last year's principal. "Go," she said, the one word dripping with a world of trouble for him. Conner sighed with a soft, "Oh man," and walked past her.

Behind him, Principal Randall's voice rose sharply to address the gaping freshman. "What are you looking at?" Conner turned to watch Randall give a kick at one of the spare soccer balls. While it lacked the pomp and circumstance of Conner's display, it bestowed the same power he bragged on the field, and knocked the poor freshman over, not having a chance to duck out of the way. "NOW GET BACK TO CLASS!" she roared at the unfortunate goalie, spread eagle on his face in the grass. Conner hopped quickly to turn away and start back towards the building before Randall could apply that foot elsewhere.

 

* * *

 

Ethan James was sneaking into the supply shed just off campus, mischief on his mind. Ethan was a genius gamer, and there was nothing about computers that eluded him, but he spent most of his prowess on getting the high score on the latest shoot-em-up or RPG, the winner of last year's Detonation Man tournament. He also used his skills towards creating havoc for the less techno-minded of those around him, and his brilliance, combined with a complete disregard for authority, made him a favorite at computer club, which was why as he entered the shed, he was accompanied by one of his lackeys from the club. "Okay, all clear," said Ethan to his cohort. "Check this out." He opened up his blue backpack, pulling out his laptop. "I wrote a program," he said, pausing to open his laptop and plug it in, before tapping out something on the keyboard, "that generates a code so the sprinklers go at different times every day." He grinned at his compatriot as he hit the command key and waited eagerly for the mayhem.

 

* * *

 

Kira Ford was heavily made-up, taking center stage in the quad as she sat on one of the benches, bent over her guitar and strummed out a piece she'd been working on. She was opinionated, self-righteous, and loved music above all else, and as a result, wasn't exactly popular at school. She didn't much mind. Nor was she afraid of the spotlight. She didn't crave it, as others around her did, but she didn't shirk away from it. The way she saw it, it was better to be focused on for her music, than be put at the center of attention for far more dangerous things.

_I wanna know_ / _know where you're at_ / _I'm at the front but you're still at the back_ / _oh, can you tell me where_ / _tell me where you're at..._ She hit the chorus of the repeated phrase "freak you out," and then finished to a chorus of claps from lingering students. She liked the song, but it wasn't done. It still felt like it was missing something, and there was a certain lack of emotion to it.

Then a tan skirt came to a stop in front of her, and Kira looked up into the heartless gaze of the new principal. "Miss Ford, I'm afraid you need written permission to perform on school grounds," she intoned coolly, scribbling something down in her open binder. "Let's go."

Kira wasn't fazed. "Are you aware that kids who play an instrument have a fifty percent higher chance of getting into college?" she said calmly, punctuating her statement with a smirk.

"Well." Randall pulled her glasses down her nose slightly, to study Kira over the rims. "You're hardly college material now, are you, Miss Ford?" she said, completely ignoring Kira's offended yelp. "Now come with me."

Conner ran his hand through his hair in annoyance, wisely keeping to the back of the procession to avoid the two pissy alpha females. They made it about ten steps when the sprinklers went off, saturating the lawns, a wave of shrieks rising up as students scattered.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" groaned Kira, frantically wiping down her wooden guitar. "That's just great," she mumbled.

Randall, however, had her eyes trained on the black boy who was walking through the melee with a calm smile on his face, and a bright blue umbrella opened over his head. "Ethan James," she hissed. "I should have known." She fixed Ethan with a glare that would have made anyone wet themselves. Reefside High was in awe of its new administrator.

 

* * *

 

"Sit!" barked Randall, ushering the three teens —two wet, one dry, all wearing expressions of extreme displeasure— into the school and parking them on the bench in front of her office. Conner propped up one leg dramatically to strike his most 'poor, tortured me' pose.

"Principal Randall," spoke up Ethan, "I'd just like to mention the fact that there's absolutely no hard evidence linking me to that _unfortunate_ sprinkler incident..."

"Save it for Judge Judy, Mr. James. The three of you have detention," she snapped, biting off the end of each word. "For one week. Starting today. Now if there are no further questions—"

Three voices rose up in anxious chorus, the words blending together unintelligibly, save for Ethan's frantic claim of, "I have computer club!" rising over the protests.

"I didn't think so," continued Randall smugly, strutting past them with absolutely no regard for the fact that she was soaking wet and the most hated person in the school. The door slammed behind her as she pushed into her office.

The trio sat sullenly, and gripping her guitar neck tightly, Kira said, "Okay. Somebody _seriously_ needs a hug."

The silence that surrounded them was consent. Conner lowered his leg to peer around Kira at Ethan. "Dude. Computer club?" he said, both incredulous and with distaste.

Ethan shook his head, and each of them internally rued the actions that had gotten them to this point. None of them were looking forward to their week being spent with the other two.

 

* * *

 

Devin Del Valle was Cassidy Cornell's sidekick. Like D followed C in the alphabet, Devin followed Cassidy without change or reservation. She was a cheerleader, a socialite and busybody, and most importantly, the anchor for the Reefside High news show. It was a fledgling job, but Cassidy took it seriously, doing any piece she was assigned and many she wasn't, because she loved it. Although there were times when Devin suspected she just loved the sound of her own voice.

Devin was her hapless cameraman, always there with his camcorder strap slung over one shoulder in case footage was needed and fast. He had another camera, a real one, on loan from the school, but it was only allowed to leave school ground with written permission, so he had a wealth of camcorders of his own, just in case. He saved his allowance and did odd jobs for his collection. Devin loved filming things, particularly nature shots, so he was happy to play the modern-day Jimmy Olsen to Cassidy's Lois Lane.

"Where are we going, Cass?" he asked amiably as Cassidy strutted down the hallway, purpose dark in her eyes.

"We're going to the school secretary and demanding Dr. Oliver's files."

"Why?"

Cassidy stopped dead in front of him, and he screeched to a standstill to avoid running into her. She whirled, blond ponytail swinging as she fixed him with another of her patented annoyed stares. "_Because_, Devin, there is something off about Dr. Oliver. And I intend to uncover exactly what he's hiding. He didn't want to answer any of my questions this morning."

"Maybe because none of your questions had anything to do with science..?" Devin offered in a nervous voice, and she silenced that thought with another glare before storming off.

Devin was smarter than most people gave him credit for. They assumed that because of his shaggy hair, mismatched clothes, and thick, slow voice, that he was either a stoner, a special ed kid, or just the result of being dropped on his head as an infant. He was none of them, but he let people continue to think so, because it was easier. Devin was a bit of a reporter himself, desperately drinking in information, a side effect from being Cassidy's second-in-command, and he found that his quiet, unobtrusive approach to recon work was much more effective than Cassidy's brash offense. Which was why he knew the second Cassidy's hand hit the doorknob of the school secretary's office that her plan was going to fail miserably. But he followed anyway.

 

* * *

 

Derrick Cole was the best defense on the Reefside High soccer team. His goal-making kicks left a little something to be desired, but he was fast and strong, a brick wall on wheels. With him on defense and McKnight on offense, there was a reason that the team was undefeated two years running.

Since it was such nice day outside, Derrick's gym class was being held out on the field. He and Conner McKnight sat at edge of the action, leaning back and basking in the sunshine as they watched their classmates with critical eyes. They were stars, and therefore didn't have to commit to gym if they didn't want. Normally Derrick loved gym, he liked beating other kids at sports, but today he just wasn't feeling it. Especially since it was more of a 'free period', with kids just running around and not doing much.

"I heard there's this new place downtown, some kind of juice bar," offered Derrick. "Heidi's Space or something. Wanna check it out after school?"

"No can do, dude. Got detention."

"Are you kidding me?" said Derrick, gaping at his teammate. "Dude. You're Conner McKnight."

"_Tell_ me about it," said Conner despondently. "The new principal is a total psycho. I was practicing this morning —and, okay, _maybe_ I was missing first period, but seriously, what do you do on the first day anyway except fill out those little index cards?— and she totally goes psycho and gives me a week's worth of detention. A week! After school every day, with Ethan James and that singer chick."

"The one who's always screeching in the quad?" said Derrick.

"That's the one. Screeched one time too many, I guess. Randall flipped."

"What did James do? Are they finally doing mandatory punishment for nerds?" Derrick didn't trust anyone that was as smart as Ethan James was. That kid knew enough about computers to run the school, and Derrick didn't like it.

"You heard about the sprinklers this morning, right?" said Conner. "That was him."

Derrick gave a quick, brief nod of understanding, although he was maybe a little impressed. As pranks went, it had been pretty funny. "Dude, catch you later," said Conner suddenly, getting to his feet, tapping Derrick's shoulder, although his eyes were on some blonde who'd waved at him. Derrick rolled his eyes as his teammate went off to flirt. With no one else to do nothing with, Derrick now had to do something, so he picked the scrawniest looking kid he could spot, and asked him to spot as goalie. The kid nodded, oblivious, and Derrick grinned.

 

* * *

 

Krista Stewart was the teen chair of the Reefside Horticulture Society, an organization which served as both an appreciation for nature, and a forum for the protection of it. She took her duties very seriously, seeing as how the title had been created especially for her. Krista was deeply passionate about ecology and the preservation of the Earth's rapidly dwindling resources, and would have been elected chairperson herself, had the standing chair not been threatened by Krista's visions for the future, and made up a new bylaw in her last moments in office, dictating that chair had to be of legal age. Krista was a senior, and wasn't far from no longer being a minor, but the election had fallen before her eighteenth birthday, and she could only hold the newly-created office of teen chair. She decided to take her title seriously, opting to promote the 'teen' aspect as much as possible, and her goal for the new school year was to bring awareness to the halls of Reefside High.

Her first stop was her third period science teacher, the new Dr. Oliver. He looked to her like a man who'd seen and done a lot, and maybe that and his youth would be enough to sway him to her cause. She approached him after the bell with a confident smile. "Dr. Oliver? Can I ask you something?"

He looked up from the paper he'd been studying, and smiled. "Sure. Um... Krista, right?"

"Yeah. I'm teen chair of the Reefside Horticulture Society, which means I'm also the liaison for the high school, and I was hoping maybe I could use your influence to help promote our latest cause."

His smile was tight, but she was oblivious, oozing the charm as well as she could to sway him. "What exactly do you have in mind?" he said carefully.

"Well, the Society is having a fundraiser this weekend, to raise money for Rivers Park. The city wants to put in a new baseball diamond," she bit out the term with disgust, "but they've agreed that with enough money, we can put in trees behind home plate. It's not the flower garden that we wanted, but it will send a good message to the community. And I was hoping that you could bring up the fundraiser —a bake sale, simple but effective— in your classes during the week." She settled back, squeezing her books to her chest a little more tightly with a satisfied smile. The man would be unable to resist a pitch like that.

"Well, Krista, I don't know if shameless plugs are really in my jurisdiction as a teacher..."

"Dr. Oliver, I care about science as deeply as you do. And isn't the future of this earth as much a part of science as the past? All I'm asking is that you mention it to your classes." She stared him down, then with a tiny sigh, opted to add quietly, "Please?"

Dr. Oliver shook his head with a small laugh. "All right. You've won me over. I'll do you one better—I'll write it on the board and everything. Just give me all the details."

Krista cheered victoriously inside her head, and handed over one of the flyers. "Thank you so much, Dr. Oliver. The Society really appreciates this. I really appreciate this." With a full-blown grin and a wave, she darted off for her next class with a good feeling burbling in her stomach.

 

* * *

 

Not long after the final bell had rung, Tommy Oliver was headed out for the afternoon. Principal Randall intercepted him in the hallway. "Dr. Oliver," she drawled, "how was your first day?"

"Ah, the kids were great, no problem," he said.

"Good," she said, as they monopolized both sides of the staircase, and students spread out to pass them. "You're going to be seeing a lot more of them. In detention.

"Mind telling me what I did?" he said lightly, a smile on his face. It rapidly faded as he remembered that she had no sense of humor to speak of, as far as he could tell.

Evident by the insincere, pitying half-smirk she flashed him before staring him down over the rims of her glasses. "No, you're in charge of it today."

That was bad. Tommy had already committed the tiny square of his calendar marking today towards other exploits. "Uh, no, actually, I have plans to go to a museum outside of town—" he attempted to explain, but she cut him off.

"Perfect! Bring the little monsters with you. That should be sufficient torture for them," she said.

"Okay, detention, cool," he said weakly, not wanting to argue with his boss on his first day. They paused in the hallway, just around the corner from her office. "I'll stay here. But if I'm going to stay after, then I really need to run out to my car and get something, okay?"

Principal Randall stared at him for a long moment. "It'll only take a second," he assured her. "Besides, the extra moment with you should scare them straight much more effectively than I ever could."

The second the words had left his mouth, he worried that he'd said too much too nastily. But to his surprise —and yet, complete lack of surprise— she smiled. "You do have a point," she said smugly. "All right. But don't be long." She disappeared to deal with the truants, and Tommy sighed to himself, before heading in the direction of the parking lot.

A lesser person would have just jumped in their car and sped off, but Tommy had a nagging sense of responsibility, in addition to a nagging sense of guilt. He shrugged out of his lab coat and tossed it over the passenger seat. The student parking lot had already emptied of those who didn't have some sort of after school program, and there were all of four cars in the teacher's lot, so he didn't worry about his lab coat being snatched from his windowless Jeep. It was a lot warmer now than it had been when he'd arrived that morning, and he rubbed at the back of his neck slightly, before finally deciding to undo his tie. He fumbled with the knot for a second, before sliding it out of his collar, folding up the strip of cloth, and tucking it into his glove compartment. With a nearly imperceptible nod of satisfaction, he collected his briefcase from the front seat and headed back across the quiet campus.

Until a purple light flashed in the sky, and from it tumbled a series of tight, wiry bodies in black and white, yipping furiously as they landed, sized up Tommy, and circled around him, waving wobbly staffs and reminding Tommy of face-painted Putties. He eyed them warily, hoping that it was just a flash of the past, combined with a bout of exhaustion to give it the bright colors, and not what he actually thought it was.

One of the creatures leapt forwards at him, wielding its staff with intent to strike. The briefcase fell to the ground, unnoticed by the retired warrior, even as it opened and spilled its contents on the emerald grass. He fell into a ready stance, ducking out of the way of his attacker, and managing to strike it in the bull's-eye on its chest with a well-placed kick. At this, the chorus of babble rose to an irritated level, and his new friends launched themselves at him.

It was exactly what he'd thought it was.


	2. Chapter 2

Dr. Thomas Oliver, Tommy to his friends, carried a secret that not many could boast. Although, considering the number of years that had gone by, and the teams that had sprouted up in his wake, being an ex-Power Ranger wasn't exactly in the minority.

His passion, for all intents and purposes, was martial arts. He was fast, he was strong, he was an excellent fighter, and even though he had spent the last few years of his life as Tommy Oliver, Research Assistant, he still knew exactly what he was doing. He was never out of practice.

The crowd of some ten-odd burbling, babbling, dancing minions had circled him in the middle of campus, and were now lunging at him, waving their wobbling sticks with intent to injure. Or, possibly, kill. To be honest, he was never quite sure what the purpose of the Putties, Tengas, Cogs, or Piranhatrons were. Surely Rita and her successors never meant for their grunts to dispatch of the Rangers just like that. They were more likely a distraction, with the intention of tiring out the Rangers so that they wouldn't defeat the latest monster that quickly or that easily (or at all). So Tommy had a feeling that whatever these things were, they were part of something much bigger, and he should keep on his toes.

He landed on his back, underestimating the reach of the creature's swing. Two dropped down to dispose of him, but he kicked up with both legs, nailing his friends so they went flying. He jumped to his feet, taking down another one with a sweep kick, and just barely throwing his arm up in time to block another attack. The two he'd dispatched were back, he thought—okay, they all looked alike, but there were more now than there had been a second ago, so he could only assume. They came up behind him and grabbed his arms.

Tommy surveyed the approaching mini-army, wondering why trouble always seemed to find him.

 

* * *

 

Principal Randall checked her watch. Dr. Oliver had said he was only going to be a 'second'. Perhaps one of her first roles as administrator should be to make the teacher's parking lot closer to the school. In front of her, one of the truants sighed loudly. "Is this part of the whole punishment process?" he whined.

"Stuff it, Mr. McKnight," she sneered, and was about to launch into a diatribe, when a tiny alarm went off in her head. Panic settled in —_why here, why now?_— but she managed to keep it off of her face, instead surveying her charges with a sugary sweet smile. "Your supervisor seems to have disappeared," she said.

"Does that mean detention's off?" asked Ethan James eagerly.

"No. It means that I, unlike you, have places to be, and can't waste my time here." A passing faculty member caught her eye. "Mr. Reed!" she barked, and the man stopped, looking at her almost fearfully. "What are you doing this afternoon?"

"I have—"

"Excellent," she cut him off. "You're in charge of detention. These three are your slaves after school every day for a week. Make it painful," she instructed, and then stormed into her office.

With the door safely shut behind her, Elsa bowed her head in reverence. "Yes, Master," she said, and his voice flooded her brain.

"Elsa," the one called Mesogog hissed. "There is something..._interesting_ going on, on the grounds of your school."

"Does it have to do with the Dino Gems?"

"No, it has to do with a series of grunts that I've never seen before. I want you to get out there and collect them for me."

"As you wish, Master," she said, ending the communication and making the transformation into Mesogog's minion Elsa. She had malice on her mind.

 

* * *

 

"My classroom's free," Mr. Reed of the history department announced, looking at the kids with something like sorrow. "Let's go."

"You know, Mr. Reed, my man, _you_ don't want to be here, _we_ don't want to be here..." Conner clapped a hand on the man's shoulder. He'd had Reed last year, and the guy had let him miss class for impromptu practices.

But the teacher shook his head. "I can't, Conner. Randall isn't nearly as lenient as Principal Walker was. You gotta serve your time."

Conner sighed, his eyes closing in desperation. "Aw, dude, I can't miss practice!"

"And I can't let you go. My hands are tied." He led them back to his classroom.

"You know, for a second there, I almost thought you were doing us a favor," said Ethan.

Conner glared at the geek. "I was doing myself a favor. I don't care what happens to you two, but I need to go to practice."

"Yeah," snorted Kira, "like they're really going to kick their wonder boy off the team." Conner fixed his angry look on her then, but she bit back with one of her own. "I've got stuff I have to do, too, you know."

"What, sit in your dark room and whine about how life sucks?"

"The only one who sucks here is you," stepped in Ethan.

Kira glowered at him. "I don't need you to defend me, thanks."

It didn't take a rocket scientist to pick up on the high tension between the trio, and Mr. Reed suggested that they all take seats at separate tables. He wished he hadn't stayed those few extra minutes to straighten his desk, he thought, staring at the organized surface now that he was stuck behind it once again. He had a feeling he was going to be in for a long week.

 

* * *

 

Tommy ducked another flying punch and swung around to kick his attacker squarely in the chest. With a firm backhand to the face of the one behind him, all of his adversaries were at last on the ground. He had a feeling it wouldn't last. It never did. Either they would get recalled, or they would multiply and he would have to—he couldn't morph anymore. Hadn't been able to for years. Right.

But when they got up, they apparently decided it was no longer fun fighting Tommy Oliver, and they scrambled off, babbling away, leaving the confused paleontologist to stare after them, before slowly stooping to gather up his scattered papers. Weird first day back.

 

* * *

 

Mesogog's loyal follower Elsa came to the front of the school, to see a crowd of about a dozen creatures, moving in formation like a flock of birds. More like a flock of dodos. They didn't seem bright, but when they spotted her, they moved immediately to stand in front of her and yip as they waited patiently. Elsa didn't understand the sudden subservience by these weird creatures, but she didn't much care. She summoned an invisoportal and took all of them back to the lair.

 

* * *

 

Tommy would've run to Randall's office, but his hip was smarting from a sharp land on his open briefcase during the battle. It annoyed him to no end—he wasn't that old, and the tiny limp, though it would be fine in a few moments, was embarrassing.

Not that it really much mattered. When he got to the principal's office, there was no one there. No Randall, no kids. Tentatively, he knocked on the door, checking his watch on his other hand as he did so. He was only a little bit late. Silence.

He called out her name once, and when that still got no response, Tommy decided that he'd just earned the afternoon back from her clutches. He could head to the museum now.

The sleeve of his lab coat flapped in the frenetic wind generated by the open Jeep speeding madcap down the back road to the museum. His spiky hair didn't rustle once in the breeze, but he was relaxed behind the wheel of a fast car, and he forgot all about the battle.

 

* * *

 

Derrick hadn't been able to round up anyone to go with him to Heidi's Space after school. Largely in part because he was proposing skipping practice, and largely in part because he wasn't bringing Conner with him. Everybody loved Conner. And Conner loved absolutely no one but himself. For whatever reason, that just made them all love him more. Sometimes Derrick hated Conner.

He found the place, it was actually called Hayley's Cyberspace. Whatever, close enough. The title should have tipped him off, but when Derrick stepped in, the place was filled with computers and people using them. Fantastic. A geek bar? His reputation would have been trashed if not for the fact that all of his friends were back at the school, practicing.

Derrick went over and sat at the bar. The woman behind it couldn't have been that much older than him, and she fixed him with a tired but kind smile. "Hey. What can I get you?"

He studied the menu, and not finding anything that made him jump to taste it, he shrugged. "Dunno, what's popular?"

She contemplated this. "Well, I've been getting a lot of requests for my newest creation. It's got pineapple and kiwi. You interested?"

"Sure."

"Coming right up." She turned her back to him, and provided him with a tall glass moments later.

He blinked. "That was fast."

"Slow day. You're on the Reefside High soccer team, right?"

Derrick stared at the redhead; there was no possible way she could have known that. "Yeah. How did you—?"

"You're wearing your jersey," she said, pointing.

"Oh," he said with a sheepish smile. He took a long swig of his drink. It was tangy. But not bad. He told her as much.

"Great. Tell your friends. I could use the business."

"No offense or anything, but my friends wouldn't be caught dead in a geek bar like this."

"You so sure about that?" she asked with a smirk, pointing behind him. He turned to look at the door, where Cassidy Cornell had just walked in with her sidekick Devin. "She's a cheerleader," the woman added for emphasis.

He thought that her tone should annoy him, but oddly enough, it didn't. He just rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his drink, as Hayley dealt with a small slew of customers to Derrick's right. The tang wasn't as noticeable as before, he thought after a sip, and the taste was really growing on him.

"Hey, Hayley, could I get a Kiwi-Pineapple Cocktail and a Strawberry Classic?" came a voice over Derrick's shoulder.

"Sure thing, Devin," said the woman, and Derrick realized that this was Hayley, the owner of the place. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized it before.

The small crowd of customers next to Derrick disappeared with their drinks to one of the alcoves. The person behind Derrick moved into the newly vacated space, and smiled at the soccer player. "Hey, Derrick."

Derrick nodded his head briefly in greeting. "Hey, Devin. What's up?" He didn't particularly care what was up, but it wasn't like he had anything better to do than talk with the geek at the moment.

"Cass is researching the new science teacher," said Devin with a shrug. "She thinks there's something weird about him."

"Yeah, there's something weird," laughed Derrick. "He's a _teacher_."

Devin grinned at him, opening his mouth to say something else, but Hayley had returned bearing two glasses. One was filled with the same murky yellow-green color as Derrick's own glass, the other was bright pink. Devin plunked straws in both of them before taking a liberal sip of the pink one. "Great as always, Hayley," he praised, handing over the wad of bills.

He started to walk away as she fiddled with the register. "Hey, Devin, you want your change?" she called after him.

He waved one of his drinks at her. "No, put it in the tip jar."

"I don't have a tip jar."

"Start one," he said, sitting down across from Cassidy.

Hayley stared over at the mismatched couple for a long moment, wearing a thoughtful expression.

Devin, however, didn't notice the attention of the Cyberspace proprietor. He was too busy trying to calm a frazzled Cassidy down. He'd been unable to dissuade her that morning from going through with her fact-finding mission, and as he'd predicted, they'd walked away with nothing. The young reporter was on the verge of hysteria, ranting and raving against the Reefside High administrative staff and their incompetence.

"I'm telling you, there's something weird about Dr. Oliver," she began again. "I mean seriously, I called Angel Grove High, and they wouldn't tell me anything. It's like his private records are some big secret."

"Yeah," said Devin, "I kinda thought that was why they called them 'private' records. I mean, if they were _public_ records..."

Cassidy glared at him, huffing and taking a liberal slurp of her drink. "It's tangy," she observed with slight distaste, staring at the off color for a moment. She shrugged slightly. "But not bad." She took another drink.

Devin settled back in his seat. She was going to let it go, changing the subject abruptly so as not to look foolish because Devin was right and she was wrong. It was standard Cassidy behavior, refusing to be upstaged by her dopey assistant. But he didn't mind. At this point, he was long used to it.

While she had dropped the subject, however, he knew she was still going to fume about it for a few minutes still, which gave him time to look over the Cyberspace. He'd only taken Cassidy here twice since discovering this place shortly after it'd opened. She tolerated it, because the drinks were really good, even if the usual crowd was too unpopular for her liking. Devin, however, loved it. The owner, Hayley, was really nice, and the computers were much faster than his junky old box at home. He enjoyed coming here, and would spend the time watching the eclecticism of its patrons.

Like Derrick Cole, for example. The most high up on the high school hierarchy that this establishment had ever witnessed. He was Conner McKnight's right-hand man, everyone knew, and Conner was the king of Reefside High. What he was doing here this afternoon was beyond Devin, because for starters, he should have been at soccer practice. And secondly, he was way too 'cool' for the likes of this place. Devin was bemused as to Derrick's presence, and further by the rare smile that he witnessed the stopper shooting Hayley. What Devin knew about Derrick —and Devin had spent enough time hanging out on the outskirts of Cassidy's social circle to study people like Conner and Derrick— he knew that Derrick was only nice to people if he was going to get something out of it. Maybe he was trying to finagle a free drink out of Hayley? Not that she'd ever go for that. She was sweet, but she was tough, particularly when it came to her struggling business.

No matter. Derrick had gotten bored, and was now vacating the premise, practically knocking over Krista Stewart as she came in the double doors. Now here was someone a little closer to the target Hayley's patrons. Devin wondered what Krista had in mind coming here now, but before he could really dwell on that, Cassidy was demanding his attention once again.

"I've got a new scoop," she said. "I heard that Randall gave _Conner McKnight_ detention. That woman is absolutely crazy, Devin. We have to find out where, when, and why. And also we need to find out if she's unstable. I heard she worked in a prison. I also heard that she escaped from a prison. We need to find out everything."

Devin drained the last of his smoothie. He had a feeling he was going to need a few more that afternoon.

 

* * *

 

Conner was tapping his pencil on the tabletop. He had little sense of rhythm, and the erratic tempo was slowly causing Kira to go crazy. He didn't even have a notebook or anything—he was just drumming the pencil while he stared out the window.

Sure, it was the first day, and none of them had homework, but both she and Ethan were attempting to actually make use of their time. Kira was working on a song in her notebook, and Ethan was hunched over his keyboard.

"You better not be doing something that's gonna get us another week of detention," Conner remarked to Ethan, surprisingly reading Kira's thoughts on the subject.

Ethan's eyes narrowed at the tall boy. "What I'm doing isn't any of your business."

"Probably playing some lame game," said the soccer star offhandedly, returning his gaze to the green grass past the window.

"You'd know all about lame games to play, wouldn't you?" said Ethan, unable to resist.

Conner's grip tightened on the pencil. "What was that?"

"You heard me." There was a slight pause, and Kira and Mr. Reed, watching the exchange, thought the moment might pass. But Ethan continued fearlessly, "You know, you think you're all that, but all you really do is kick a little ball around. Big deal."

Conner laughed, but it was without mirth, and was accompanied by a warning expression. "You so don't want to go there, dude."

"All I'm saying is that it doesn't take much brains."

The pencil tip broke as Conner's clenched fist slammed down on his desk. "So maybe I'm not Mensa material. At least I've got _friends_."

"I have friends!" Ethan interjected, looking offended. "Who do you think I am, Kira?"

"Hey!" said Kira. They both glanced over at her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It just means that you're always alone," said Ethan, looking for all the world like he wished he could take back the last ten seconds. "But I guess that's artist temperament..."

His attempt to get out of the hole he'd dug himself had the reverse effect. Kira's eyes flared to life. "Excuse me if I don't surround myself with boring losers or halfwit jocks!" she snapped.

"Who are you calling boring?" demanded Ethan at the same time as Conner cried, "Who are you calling halfwit?"

At his desk, Mr. Reed popped an aspirin.

 

* * *

 

Krista was trying not to let Derrick's rude comment after nearly plowing her over ruin her day. Derrick was a huge jerk with a huge ego and nothing to support it.

"Hi, what can I get you?" the woman behind the counter asked of Krista.

Krista sighed once to calm herself, and smiled at the pretty redhead. "Do you have anything soy-based?"

"Sure do," said Hayley. "Just about everything on the menu is all natural, but there are some products for the more health-conscious among us. I'd recommend the Mint Iced Tea, myself. Personal favorite."

"Sure, that sounds good," said Krista with a firm nod and smile. "Thank you."

The woman returned moments later with a tall, frosty glass, which Krista accepted. The bartender nodded down at the stack of day-glow yellow flyers sitting in front of Krista on the countertop. "What're those?"

"The Reefside Horticulture Society is having a fundraiser this weekend, a bake sale for Rivers Park, to plant trees behind home plate of the new baseball diamond."

The woman sighed. "You know, Rivers Park already has a perfectly fine diamond on the north side. They don't need a second, especially considering that Otsinengo Park already has one, and Sawyer's Field has two. I'd heard that the Society was going in a bidding war for the spot, I'm sorry to hear that they lost. If you'd like, I can hand these flyers out to my customers." She held out her hand.

Krista couldn't keep the beaming smile from her face as she passed over the stack. "Thank you so much! I try so hard to get the word out about our various causes, but so few people ever listen...the planet is going to fall all to pieces one of these days, and they'll have no one to blame but themselves..."

The woman nodded, turning to immediately tack up a poster next to the menu. Krista used this moment to gaze around, spotting Devin Del Valle slurping on his straw. He looked up when he felt his eyes on her, and waved slightly. Krista, half-smiling, waved back. She knew Devin, he'd been present at the rally over the summer to raise money for fixing the roof of the greenhouse. He was a nice guy.

Krista's gaze trailed over the Cyberspace some more, before landing on the shelves of rich baked goods behind glass. Promoting the event wasn't going to be enough, she realized. She had to actually bake something. "Thanks for all your help," she added to the woman, finishing off the last of her drink, and rising to her feet.

"Off so soon?" the woman asked with a smile.

Krista shrugged. "I've got a world to save."

 

* * *

 

Pulling up, Tommy noticed a large chain with a lock and a sign dangling off of it blocking the walkway up to the museum doors. He parked the car, climbed out, and went over. It was a 'closed' sign. "That's weird," he muttered, because it definitely wasn't supposed to be closed.

He climbed over the chain and headed up to the doors. Maybe there would be someone working inside that he could talk to. He glanced up at the giant, mottled-yellow T-Rex model glaring over the area. It was more than a little freaky, but whatever lured in visitors, he supposed.

There was another sign on the front entrance. "'In case of emergency, call Anton Mercer Industries'?" he read, but he must have read it wrong. "Anton Mercer...that's impossible." Anton Mercer was _dead_. The entire private island that their experiments had been on had been utterly decimated, and Tommy had only barely gotten out alive. They had been unable to find Anton's body, but there had been a wake and everything. Tommy had attended. AMI had been shut down for the time being, because Anton hadn't left the company to anyone, and they hadn't been sure what to do with it.

Tommy reached for his cell phone to call his partner in crime. If anyone was going to know about this, it would be Hayley. Hayley knew everything about everyone. But when he put his hand in his pocket, it came out empty. That's right, the phone was in the car. No matter, it didn't look like anyone was here to let him in, anyway. He turned around, about to head back, when he noticed something.

Or rather, a decided lack of something. The T-Rex had been so huge that is was a glaring absence when it was no longer there. "Where did..?" Tommy wondered, but the question answered itself when the enormous yellow head lifted over a corner of the building and peered down menacingly at him. This was not good.

The T-Rex snarled, huffing as it leaned close to him, and Tommy's clothes flapped in the wind of the beast's rancid breath. Definitely not good.

 

* * *

 

"Would you stop that already?" demanded Conner irritably.

"Stop what?" said Kira, her voice equally snappy.

"Humming. You're driving me crazy."

"Short drive."

"Funny."

"Would the both of you shut up?" said Ethan, in the middle. "I'm trying to concentrate here."

Conner and Kira both opened their mouths to retort, but Mr. Reed couldn't take it anymore. "Guys, I think Principal Randall is gone for the day. And I know we have a half-hour left, but I'm sending you home early, okay?"

The three teens erupted in a chorus or relieved, grateful chatter. They gathered up their stuff noisily, and Ethan paused with his hand on the door to the room. "See you all tomorrow," he said perkily, flashing them an annoyingly cheerful smile. He waved, and Conner sneered at him. Kira breezed past them both with an irritated, "Whatever."

Four more days of this? Mr. Reed had vague notions of retirement.

 

* * *

 

Tommy knew it was stupid the second he was in the air. Which was why he promptly took off running after _kicking a T-Rex in the face_. How many times had those pseudo-Putties knocked him in the head, anyway?

The T-Rex was taken by surprise, whether from Tommy's kick or his sudden retreat, it was hard to say. Not that it really mattered. It was only moments before it was after him, and Tommy all but dove into his Jeep. He maintained his vehicle meticulously, and could only pray that his slavish devotion would pay off in the end. Because he really needed this car to work. He shut the door, and hit the lock.

"Great, yeah, lock the door, Tommy. Real good," he chastised himself. It was an open vehicle. And even if it wasn't, was the king of the dinosaurs really just going to turn and walk away because the flimsy lock stopped him?

His keys were knotted all together, and he fumbled with them a moment before finding the right one, jamming it in the ignition, and turning. The engine whined, but didn't start. Eyes on the beast, Tommy's cry of, "C'mon!" was both a plead and a demand, and miraculously, the engine roared to life. Tommy snapped on his seatbelt, and threw the car into reverse, squealing just out of the path of the dinosaur's snapping jaws.

When he was just enough out of reach, he pulled a K-turn with a screech of tires, then pumped the gas pedal for all it was worth and tore out of there.

The T-Rex was no longer hesitant. In fact, it seemed eager for a chase, because the second the speedometer started streaking wildly higher, the dinosaur was crouched into a run, roaring and biting at the air as it chased him. Tommy never regretted giving up his racing career to go into science, because he really loved his work, but he was particularly thrilled at that moment that he'd ever had a racing career to drop out of. He was doing his best, but every time he glanced over his shoulder, the T-Rex was closer than before. He jolted uncomfortably as the dinosaur's head slammed against the spare tire on the back of the Jeep, and the vehicle swerved into the other lane.

Tommy cursed under his breath, getting control of the car again, and spotted the overpass just ahead. The idea was already forming in his mind, but it seemed too easy, too out of a movie. Still, it was the only shot he had. He punched it, dashing under the overpass, just mere feet ahead of his chaser.

With the loudest thuds Tommy had ever heard, the T-Rex's head smashed into the overpass, and the beast hit the ground, taking out a large chunk of concrete with it. Tommy stopped the car on the empty road. The T-Rex seemed to be out cold, and stupid as his notion was, he had to go and investigate. He undid his seatbelt, jumping out of the Jeep, and went over to check it out.

There was sparking. And a little green glow. This wasn't normal. He bent down to see it closer. The beast was dead, as it should have been, thousands of years ago. Furthermore, it wasn't real—it was a robot.

Tommy looked back in the direction of the museum it had come from. Something was not right. Something was very, very wrong.

He went over to the Jeep and got the phone out of his glove compartment. She was the first number on his speed-dial. "Hayley? I think it's time."


	3. Chapter 3

"What are they?" hissed Mesogog, surveying his new charges. There were six white, six black, but they all grouped together without rhyme or reason. And they were all respectful of the lord of the lair.

"They are the Triptoids, your highness," said Elsa, lowering her head. "I believe they will make an excellent addition to your army, once I've dealt with them in the modification chamber." She raised her eyes just enough to fix her master with a smirk. "They already have a bias against your friend Tommy Oliver."

"Very well," said Mesogog. "Take them...do with them what you will. We will use them when the time comes."

"Yes, Master," she said, with a short, quick nod, leading the new grunts out of the room. The time for battle would be soon.

 

* * *

 

"Let me get this straight," said Hayley. She and Tommy were sitting in her office at the Cyberspace, and she'd put one of her employees in charge for the time being. "The museum is part of Anton Mercer Industries?"

"That's what the sign said," said Tommy, taking a long sip of coffee. The caffeine helped recharge his tired body, but only added to the frazzled state of his nerves.

"And the T-Rex was alive."

"Why is it when you say it, it sounds crazy?" he asked rhetorically.

"Maybe because it is crazy." She sighed. "So you really think it's time to break out the morphers?"

"I think two random, unprovoked attacks against me in one day is a sure sign that Mesogog survived the explosion." He frowned, glancing out the office's window, and felt her hand on his forearm. He glanced at his best friend, who was offering him a gentle smile.

"Doesn't seem fair, does it," she said quietly. "That that lizardy freak survived, and Anton didn't." Funny how she could read his mind sometimes.

He nodded in agreement, but couldn't help feeling patronized. He knew perfectly well that Hayley had never been fond of Anton Mercer. He told her as much.

She shrugged. "I didn't like your experiments with him. Seemed too much like the stuff you were trying to prevent with your experiments with me. And since Mesogog made all those 'improvements' on the Tyrannodrones..."

"Don't start, Hayley," he warned her. "Anyway, we need to get to work. We have to find candidates to accept the powers."

"Right."

Hayley drank her tea, and the two shared a long silence before Tommy said finally, "So, any ideas?"

"How about you?" she asked.

He laughed. "Me? Be a Ranger again? You're kidding, right?"

"Worth a shot. What exactly did you have in mind? More kids?"

"Unless you want to don the suit."

This time it was Hayley that laughed. "Oh, yeah, Tommy, sure. I'll be a Ranger." She rolled her eyes at him. "How about Marc?"

"Marc, the guy manning the bar as we speak?"

"Yeah, him. Why not? He has leadership capabilities."

"Okay. Mark him down as a 'maybe,'" said Tommy, as though they had an actual list.

"I met this kid today, I think his name was Derrick? He plays on the soccer team at your school."

"Could only be Derrick Cole," said Tommy. He'd only been there one day, but one day had been enough to learn about the hierarchy of the school, and the weird twist that made soccer the new football, and who it named as princes. "I don't know too much about him, though. Not in any of my classes, I don't think..."

"Huh. Well, he seemed like a good kid. Quiet, dark, big, brooding, but seemed like a nice enough guy."

"I don't know if 'nice enough guy' cuts it."

"Well, he's strong and fast. That should be enough."

"Fine, fine, put him on the list."

Rolling her eyes, Hayley jotted his and Marc's names down on a legal pad she'd pulled from her desk drawer, making a mental note to burn this thing once Rangers had been chosen. Wandering around with a list of high school students was case enough to get you arrested these days. Couldn't save the world from prison.

"Do you know a Krista?" said Hayley.

"Ecological rights activist? Yeah. Reminds me of the Rangers when I was her age. That's the sort of pro-active attitude I like to see."

"So she's on the list?"

"Yeah."

"Ethan James?" she suggested.

"He's in my first period class. He's smart, but he's a troublemaker."

"Fine...how about Devin Del Valle? You must know him. He's friends with Cassidy Cornell. She's—"

"—doing an expose on me, I know," he finished. Tommy laughed. "Cassidy's kind of crazy, but Devin seems like a good kid."

"Devin is one of the best kids I know," Hayley confided, quietly but firmly. "If you wanted my honest opinion...he's a Red Ranger, all the way."

"If he's got your backing, how can I say no?"

Hayley wrote down Devin's name, and put a big star by it. Somehow, she figured that when Tommy explained everything to the kids, Devin would assume the mantle of the Red Ranger without so much as a second thought. She wished they could be as lucky with the other Rangers. She had a feeling none of them would come quietly.

 

* * *

 

Conner pulled his shirt over his head, and tried to rearranged his mussed hair. Something was off. He couldn't place it, but he just had this nagging feeling that something was wrong. It wasn't even the fact that he'd gotten detention for the first time in his life. No, this feeling had started the moment he had walked out of detention. He tossed his shirt at his clothes hamper, where it promptly bounced off the edge, unraveled from its neat little ball, and landed in a heap on the floor. There was just something weirdly off about things, and it was bothering him.

Conner stared at his reflection in the mirror, for once not studying himself, but lost in thought as he tried to puzzle the feeling out. It didn't have anything to do with James or Ford, did it?

No. Of course not. He was just feeling weird because he'd missed practice. It wasn't anything more than that, and he was wasting his time even thinking about it.

 

* * *

 

Derrick Cole was, in fact, in Tommy's first period class. He sat in the back row, glaring at everyone. Tommy must have missed him during the excitement of teaching for the first time. In the moments before the bell, he had a chance to study Derrick. He did seem vaguely antisocial, despite the fact that a lot of kids waved at him, but they could work on that. After his meeting with Hayley the day before, Tommy had gone back to the school and acquired the tape of last year's soccer intramurals. Derrick was, as she'd suggested, strong and fast. The only one who beat him for speed was Conner McKnight—

—who was sneaking into the classroom just as the final bell rang.

"Conner, thanks for joining us," said Tommy dryly, greeting the soccer star for the first time.

Conner flashed the teacher a wide grin. "I was getting ready for our game against Blue Bay Harbor. Someone's gotta bring glory and honor to this school."

"How about we try bringing 'glory and honor' to your grade point average first, so you can at least stay on the team," said Tommy calmly. "And Conner...if you're late to class again, I'll make sure that Principal Randall throws an extra week of detention onto your sentence." The athlete's winning smile dropped, and Tommy continued, "Really, guys. This goes for all of you. I'm a morning person about as much as any of you are. So if I can make the effort to drag myself over here every morning and be on time, I think you guys owe me the same courtesy. I want you guys to learn as much as you can, and you can't learn anything if you aren't here. Now, let's get started."

As the class wore on, since Tommy knew the material cold, he was able to get distracted occasionally, and watch his two prospective Rangers. He trusted Hayley's judgment immensely, but he still wanted the chance to see them for himself. Derrick looked bored, but he was at least taking notes, when he thought no one was looking. Devin actually attempted to answer some of Tommy's questions, always the first hand in the air, even if he got them wrong. He would just let those failed attempts slide with a 'what can you do' grin and shrug. Tommy, on the whole, was pleased. When the bell rang, Tommy quickly sidled up to Devin, and asked if he could drop by the science room right before lunch. "I think you're one of my best students, and I'm hoping to recruit you for an extra project," he said quietly. Devin smiled, and gave his enthusiastic promise that he'd be there, right before Cassidy dragged him out of the room.

Derrick, being in the back, was fenced in by the other students taking their time leaving, and was one of the last ones out of the room. "Derrick, could you swing by here right before lunch?" asked Tommy.

"Why?" the soccer player said, glancing at his professor suspiciously.

"I was hoping you might be interested in helping with a project," said Tommy hastily. "I need some heavy lifting done, and you look like you're the strongest kid in the class." Off Derrick's hesitant look, he added, "It won't take long, I promise. And you'll get extra credit applied to wherever you want it."

"All right, fine. I'll be here."

"Great, thanks," said Tommy. Two down, one to go.

Third period rolled around, and Tommy found himself studying Krista Stewart. She would offer lots of questions about the ecology of the time period, and was quite insightful, not to mention passionate. When the bell rang, he added, "Krista, could you come here, please?"

This statement was met by a chorus of mocking 'ooooh's from a few exiting students, but Krista acted as though she hadn't heard them at all, approaching his desk with her books tucked under one arm. "Yes?"

"You were great in class today," he said. "And actually, I was hoping that you could drop by here before the lunch period, and help me with a project? I need your mind."

She looked pleased at the compliment. "What sort of project?" she asked.

"It's right up your alley," he promised. "It won't take long. I just want to get you and a few other students together, run through the details, see if you're interested, is all."

"Sure," she said. Offering him a smile, she hurried out the door to her next class.

Tommy glanced at the other students coming in the room. He couldn't help the feeling of dread that this was never going to work.

 

* * *

 

Five minutes into the lunch period, and he was beginning to worry because they hadn't shown. Until the door swung open, and all three of them poured in at once. They must have just run into each other in the hall. "Great, you're all here," he said, trying to focus on the pinprick of relief that they hadn't stood him up. "Devin, could you shut the door, please?"

Devin nodded and did as he was asked. "So what's this project, exactly?" said Krista, as the three kids plunked themselves on stools.

"Complicated," was all he could think to say. "You three have been selected to receive a great power, and I'm hoping you'll accept."

"Power?" said Derrick, cocking one eyebrow at the oddness of the statement, but clearly trying to hide his interest.

"Please, hear me out," he said. "A few years back, I was doing research on combining dinosaur DNA with technology. My partner, a scientist named Anton Mercer—"

"Oh, I know him. Rich guy who disappeared a couple of years ago," said Devin.

"AMI was sponsoring the butterfly garden and the greenhouse," offered Krista.

"Guys, please, let me finish. Shortly after Mercer disappeared, our lab was attacked, and all of our research was destroyed. Or at least, I thought it was."

"Who destroyed it?" asked Derrick, and the second Tommy's eyes landed on him, the soccer player's inquisitive look disappeared in favor of a glower. Tommy let it slide.

"He calls himself Mesogog," he continued. "And I think he's back."

"What does that mean, exactly?" said Devin.

"And what does it have to do with us?" said Derrick.

"I don't know what he wants. But I have a bad feeling that he's going to attack sometime soon," said Tommy. "And that's where you come in. When the time comes, I want you to stop him."

"What?" all three of the kids chorused, and continued to speak all at once.

"He's going to 'attack'?"

"Why do we have to stop him?"

"Why us?"

"I chose you three specifically because I knew that you could handle the job. Devin has the dedication that the team will need to inspire it. Krista has the passion for saving the world. Derrick has the fierceness and the refusal to back down. You guys are all amazing candidates for the power."

In their own private ways, they all looked pleased. Finally, Derrick spoke up, "What's this power all about, anyway?"

So this was the moment. Tommy reached under his desk, pulling out the black case, turning it towards them, and opening the locks. He lifted the lid, and the teens leaned forward on their stools to get better looks at the contents.

"They're rocks," observed Derrick.

"Well, he is a paleontologist..." said Devin helpfully.

"They aren't just rocks," Tommy explained. "They're dino gems, which will go into dino morphers."

Krista looked up at him sharply. "Morphers?"

"Yes. Morphers that will let you become Power Rangers."

Devin perked right up. "Really?"

"You're kidding, right," scoffed Derrick.

"We can't be Power Rangers," said Krista. "You need to have special powers or something."

"And you'll get them," promised Tommy.

"Dude, did you get hit with a couple falling rocks on your last dig or something?" said Derrick. He shook his head. "This is crap. I'm outta here."

"Derrick, wait," said Devin, and the athlete stopped halfway to the door. He glanced at Devin. "I think you should stay. Dr. Oliver seems to think we're right for the job, and who are we to say that we aren't?"

"Are you all stupid?" said Derrick. "They're rocks. They don't have powers. There's no such thing as 'Mesogog', and we're not going to become Power Rangers. He's making it up."

"Um, guys?" While Derrick and Devin had been arguing, and Tommy had been watching, Krista had taken it upon herself to pick up the yellow rock. It now sat in her hand, glowing slightly. She looked up at them with wide eyes, and met matching expressions on Derrick's and Devin's faces. Tommy was smiling. "It's already started bonding with your DNA," he offered.

"That is not normal," said Derrick.

"That is so cool," said Devin, and without a second thought, picked up the red rock. It too, glowed when it touched his hand, and he stared at it, mesmerized.

Derrick glared at them all for a moment, before he stalked slowly across the room, and picked up the last gem. There was a faint blue hue illuminating his hand, before sharply, all the lights from the gems were extinguished.

 

* * *

 

Mesogog glared at his army. The Triptoids were being modified, and knowing how bumbling Elsa was, that could take awhile. Fortunately, his current army was quite acceptable in battle, and would get the job done. "The gems have moved," he hissed, "I can feel them. Go." His serpentine tongue flicked involuntarily at what would have been his lower lip. "Bring them to me."

 

* * *

 

"So, what do you guys say?" asked Dr. Oliver

Devin wanted to say yes immediately. He wasn't sure if he was cut out to be a Power Ranger, or why Dr. Oliver thought he'd make a good one, but the idea was tempting, to say the least. He wanted to give it a shot. On the other hand, he couldn't do it alone. And a quick glance at the other two, who were both frowning down at their gems, gave him the sinking feeling that they were going to say no. "Can you give us some time to think about it?" he said, hoping that maybe he could try to sway their opinions.

"Okay," said Dr. Oliver. "But try to get back to me soon. I have a feeling we don't have much time."

Devin nodded, and ushered the others out into the hallway. It was abandoned, everyone already crammed into the cafeteria. "This is ridiculous," said Derrick.

"Do you suppose he's telling the truth?" asked Krista.

"Why wouldn't he be?" said Devin. "That's not the sort of thing you just make up."

"Listen, the dude is clearly out of his mind," Derrick began. "Maybe it's from all that dust he's inhaled over the years, but he has no idea what he's talking about—"

All three of them stopped dead when a crowd of giant lizards, standing on their hind feet, with knife-like hands, approached from the end of the hall. "Um..." said Krista.

"Run!" said Devin, turning around and darting down the hallway, the others thundering on either side of him. A cursory glance over his shoulder told the cameraman that whatever-they-were were hot on their heels. "In here!" he said, leading them back into Dr. Oliver's classroom. "Dr. Oliver, we've got a problem!" he hollered, but the room was empty.

The door slammed open, and the lizard things flooded the room, blocking the only exit. Two of them immediately lunged for Derrick, but he jumped back quickly, throwing up one of his legs in an effort to kick them off. His untrained attempt landed in the gut of one of the beasts, who stumbled back. Derrick glanced over his shoulder, and Devin nodded almost imperceptibly at the soccer player, understanding. They were going to have to fight their way out.

One of the things charged at Devin, and he threw up his arm to block the onslaught, finishing it off with a punch to the unprotected solar plexus. He winced immediately as a stinging pain coursed through his fist; the things were remarkably solid. He stumbled back from the force, and if the thing could smile, it would have, Devin was certain. It advanced, two more behind him.

"Little help here?" came a desperate, choked cry, and Devin glanced over to see Krista, backed into the corner, against a bookcase, with a good five creatures in front of her. "Krista!" Devin yelled, but there was nothing he could do, since he had three in front of him. "Derrick, do something!"

Derrick crashed to the ground a few feet away from Devin, having been thrown by one of them. Devin's creatures were distracted by the sudden new presence, and Devin took the opportunity to throw a sharp kick to the lead creature, knocking it just hard enough that it bowled into the other two. They stumbled back, and Devin ducked out of the way, clamping a hand around Derrick's forearm to help pull the boy to his feet.

"These things are harsh," said Derrick, panting slightly, but still attempting to look tough.

"Help!" squeaked Krista, and Devin started to run for her, catching just a flash of her hair before the beasts descended on her, obscuring her from view. He could hear her scream.

They suddenly fell back, five of them, colliding with each other and the ground, as a cowering Krista was revealed, a series of three sharp spikes protruding from each of her forearms, braced protectively across her face.

She lowered her arms, staring at the yellow-colored spikes with wide eyes, and tossing Devin a panicked look. "What did you do?" asked Devin.

"I don't know!" she said.

"What kind of freak are you?" demanded Derrick.

"Krista, your pocket," said Devin, pointing, and they all looked as the pocket of her jacket glowed slightly. She reached in, and pulled out the yellow dino gem. It flashed brightly, then dulled, and Krista stared at them. There was something different in her eyes now, and when one of the beasts raced for her, she fended it off with one of her spiked arms, before lifting her leg and giving it a firm kick that sent it sprawling. It was the first time any one of them had done any real damage against the things.

"Aw, hell, if she can do it..." Derrick charged at one of them with an impressive grunt. He collided, and as he did so, the creature not only fell back, but was quite literally thrown against the opposite wall.

"Forget soccer, you should've gone out for football," remarked Devin, seconds before getting blindsided by another of them. He fought back as best he could, but they were strong and heavy.

Derrick suddenly disappeared from Devin's view, as three of the creatures tackled him to the floor. Devin panicked, wondering how to get away from his own opponent to save Derrick, but suddenly the three things flew back, as Derrick stood, grinning widely. He nodded at Devin, holding up his glowing blue gem. It flashed, then died, and Derrick knocked down two things with just one fist.

Krista was doing okay on her own, managing to fend off her attackers with well-placed blocks, or striking them with her spikes. She didn't notice the two rapidly coming up behind her, however. "Krista, look out!" Devin yelled, but she wasn't turning fast enough.

His eyes were burning. He was hot with the desire to help, and all the heat seemed to be concentrated to his eyes...

A sudden blast of red light emerged, shooting across the room in an impossibly short time span, hitting one of the creatures, which knocked over the other. Krista heard the thump, and it was the first time that she noticed them, as they lay on the ground behind her. She looked over at Devin, and her eyes widened. Devin could only imagine how he looked, knowing what he'd just done. In his pocket, his fingers curled around the gem, and he pulled it out, to watch it flash red.

The tides had turned, and suddenly the three of them were fighting like they knew what they were doing. The creatures took note of this, that they were no longer winning, and just as Devin was applying his newfound power to one of them, a giant green swirl of a thing opened up in the sky above them, and the lizards were gone.

"What was that?" demanded Krista, breathing hard.

"I don't know," said Devin.

"What's going on in here?" said Dr. Oliver, bursting into the room. He looked around, saw toppled chairs and the three students huddled together in front of his desk. "What happened?" he asked. "I was down the hall, heard some commotion..."

"We were attacked!" said Krista.

Dr. Oliver frowned. "By weird-looking white things?"

"No, weird-looking dinosaur things," said Devin.

Dr. Oliver went slightly pale. "The drones," he muttered to himself.

"Say what now?" said Derrick.

"They're called Tyrannodrones," the teacher continued. "I helped create them, but Mesogog took them, made some modifications. I guess I was right when I said he was back. And now he knows that the gems' powers have been activated."

"You mean those rock things gave us, like, superpowers?" said Derrick.

Krista rolled her eyes. "No, of course not, Derrick. Devin's always been able to shoot lasers out of his eyes."

"Have you had time to think about it?" asked Dr. Oliver quietly.

Devin hadn't needed time before, but he nodded. "I'm in. I don't like the idea of those things attacking people," he said. "Without our powers, we were getting trounced."

"Speak for yourself," said Derrick.

"You were on the floor, as I recall..." said Krista, and the soccer player glared at her. Krista looked at Dr. Oliver. "I'm in," she said. "I think we could do some real good as Rangers."

"That was the best workout I've had in months," said Derrick. "Count me in."

Dr. Oliver stared at them for a long moment, and Devin didn't know him well enough to be able to read his expression. But eventually the teacher smiled. "Great," he said, taking their gems from them. "I'll have your morphers ready for you after school, then. Welcome to the team."

 

* * *

 

After school, Conner strolled late into Mr. Reed's classroom.

"Aren't you ever on time for anything?" asked Kira irritably.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Big bad soccer star thinks the party doesn't start until he gets there."

"You're right," said Conner calmly, sitting down on the opposite side of the room as them. "It doesn't."

"Just when I think his ego couldn't get any bigger..." said Kira.

Conner ignored the under-her-breath remark. He just wasn't going to bother with these two losers today, no matter how much he may or may not have enjoyed cutting into Ethan yesterday. Today, he was just going to sit here quietly, and suffer out his sentence. Maybe Reed would let him off for good behavior.

No such luck. Reed was completely oblivious to the students, and Conner found that he was having to make his own amusement. He mumbled to himself as he stared out of the window. "Charlene, keep on driving. Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah."

Kira, on the opposite side of the room, gave the most elaborate sigh ever heard by man. "Those aren't the lyrics."

"For the millionth time," he groused, "I don't care what you think. Let me enjoy the song my own way."

"'For the millionth time?'" she echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Right."

Conner looked up sharply. He could've sworn that they'd had this conversation before, but then he realized it was impossible. So why did it feel so familiar? He couldn't be having déjà vu for something that had never happened.

"Anyway," he covered weakly, "if you're so smart, what are the real lyrics?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but this time it was Ethan who sighed. "Could you both just shut up? I'm trying to study."

"Sure thing," said Conner. "Wouldn't want to interrupt the geek process."

"Listen," Kira hissed to Conner, not quite done. "I don't know what little malfunction your brain is stuck on, but get this through your thick skull. Prior to this, we haven't spoken. And after this, I'm sincerely hoping that we never speak again."

Conner shrugged. "Fine by me."

"And me," muttered Ethan.

"I wasn't talking to you," Conner and Kira both snapped.

Conner lay his head down on his desk, tuning out the clacking of Ethan's fingers on his keyboard, and Kira's humming (what, it was okay when she did it, now?). He was so through with this. The sooner this death sentence was over, the better.


	4. Chapter 4

After school, the three teens met in the parking lot around Krista's hybrid car. "So we're going to Dr. Oliver's?" asked Devin.

"No way is she driving," said Derrick. "And no way am I riding in that thing." He gestured at the car.

"There's nothing wrong with my car, Derrick," said Krista, her voice tinged with impatience.

"It's weird," he said dismissively.

"What kind of mileage does it get?" Devin interrupted, trying to diffuse the impending argument. Krista turned her attention to him, and Derrick rolled his eyes, looking away. His eyes landed on the red Mustang at the other end of the emptying parking lot, and he groaned, remembering that Conner was stuck in detention. But that was just as well. There was no way that Conner would have skived off practice to give Derrick a ride anywhere, and just how exactly would he have explained why he was going out to the middle of the woods to visit a teacher? Hell, he couldn't even explain it to himself. He was skipping out on soccer, all because of a glowing rock and a couple of weirdos.

But nothing had been cooler than that burst of super-strength, and trashing those tyranno-whatevers. It had been the coolest thing he had ever done, no question. And if Dr. Oliver was guaranteeing him more of that crazy high, then to Dr. Oliver he must go. Even if it meant riding in the tree-hugger's tree-hugging car.

With a sigh, he shoved past Devin and Krista, and got in the passenger seat. They both turned to stare at him.

"Are we going or what?" he huffed. "World ain't gonna save itself."

 

* * *

 

In the front seat of Krista's car, she and Derrick were having a dispute over the radio station, a debate that featured a lot of button-punching and knob-twisting, and fluctuating volume on behalf of both the arguers and the subject of the argument. In the backseat, Devin was doing his best to tune it out, and was poking at his face. Laser eyes. A glowing red rock, a science teacher with a secret, and now, laser eyes. To think, just this morning, he'd been trying to convince Cassidy that Principal Randall wasn't evil—_Cassidy_. He was supposed to get together with Cassidy after school. And he was missing in action. He checked his watch. That meant he had about five, four, three, two—

His phone rang. He cast a nervous glance at the two at the front of the car, slunk a little further down in his seat, and answered. "Hello?"

"Devin! Where are you! I have been waiting for _five minutes_!"

"Uh, hey, Cass," he said weakly. "I'm... there's a problem."

"Problem? What sort of problem?"

"I can't make it today. I have—" He saw Krista's eyes in the rearview mirror, looking back at him curiously. The volume had gone down, and Krista must have won the battle, because the music was soft and soothing. Unfortunately, Cassidy's voice was anything but. And was most likely carrying. "—detention," he finished.

"You. Have. _Detention_?" screeched Cassidy, and wincing, Devin held the phone away from his ear. Yes, no doubt about it, both Krista and Derrick had heard that. Derrick twisted in his seat to look back at Devin. "Devin! How could you! What am I supposed to do now?"

"Um, I dunno, Cass, you could go and research things on your own."

"And just where am I supposed to do that, Devin?"

"I don't know. Hayley's Cyberspace? That's where we've been all week now."

"Just what did you get detention for, anyway?" she asked irritably.

"Listen, Cass, I'm getting the death glare about now. I have to go."

"Devin!"

"Sorry Cassidy see you later bye!" he said in a rush, hanging up. He made it a point to shut off his phone so she wouldn't try again.

Derrick was smirking at him. "Could you be any more whipped?"

"We're here," announced Krista, effectively saving Devin as she pulled smoothly into Dr. Oliver's gravel driveway next to a black Jeep. His house was a squat wooden cabin-type, and hardly looked like the secret headquarters for the Power Rangers. It didn't even look like the headquarters of the Reefside Book Club.

The front door of the house swung open just as they were hopping out of the car. "Right on time, guys, come on in," Dr. Oliver said. They filed in, Dr. Oliver, Devin, Krista, with Derrick bringing up the rear.

The interior of the house was just as rustic as the outside, and it was clear Derrick was unimpressed by his flat comment of, "Nice digs." Dr. Oliver just smiled, and walked over to a model dinosaur skeleton on a wooden table. "Quick lesson. Can anyone tell me which dinosaur this is?"

Devin and Krista both raised their hands, ignoring Derrick's eye roll. Dr. Oliver smiled and pointed. "Devin?"

"Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"Great. Pull the mouth, would you?"

"Uh... okay." Devin clamped his fingers around the jaw of the miniature beast, tugging to open its mouth.

A panel opened in the floor.

The three students stared, all in various stages of shock and disbelief, and Dr. Oliver waved his hand in the direction of the hidden staircase deep into his basement. Devin hesitated only about half a second before he descended. He found himself in the strangest room, part cave and part space station. There was an elevated stage at one side of the room, containing a keyboard and a wall with six computer monitors. The carved rock walls had many nooks and crannies, and also deep archways that presumably led to hallways and more chambers. Devin suppressed an awed whistle, thinking that _this_ was a lot more appropriate for a secret headquarters.

"So where are our morphers?" said Derrick.

"Impatient, much?" muttered Krista.

"Oh, like I really wanna spend eight hours sitting around, admiring a cave. We're all here for the same reason, and it isn't to appreciate the interior decorating."

Dr. Oliver nodded. "Derrick's right. If Mesogog has returned, then Earth is in danger. Ever since I found the dino gems, I've had these waiting, in case I ever needed to harness their powers. Your gems are from the asteroid that crashed into Earth millions of years ago, wiping out the entire dinosaur population. When I found them, I recognized their power and hid them, so they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands." He smiled, pulling a silver briefcase from the console. "And it looks like some good choices were made, because the gems have already bonded with your DNA. That's what's giving you your powers."

"Dr. Oliver," said Devin nervously, and the teacher looked over at him. "If they've bonded with us, how come this Mesogog guy still wants them?"

There was a slight pause before the answer was given, "The only way these powers can be taken away is if you're destroyed."

He was met with silence. "'Destroyed?'" said Krista, stumbling over her syllables. "Do you..."

"He means killed," said Derrick flatly.

The trio of kids glanced at each other. The nervousness in Krista's face matched the twitch in Devin's gut. Derrick, however, was looking passive and bored. Devin, struggling to maintain his calm, turned to his teacher once more. "That's what I mean," Dr. Oliver admitted.

"I didn't know this when I signed on," said Krista.

"Well, c'mon, what did you think," said Derrick.

"Oh, you really want to _die_?" she demanded. When he didn't fire back with a retort, she sighed. "I never asked to be a superhero. I was asked."

"The gems wouldn't have bonded to you if you didn't already have something inside you that could handle the power." Dr. Oliver managed to keep his distress to a minimum as he at last opened the briefcase and held it out towards them. Inside were three peculiar devices, each bearing the brightly-colored profile of a different dinosaur. "Please."

A long silence fell over the eerie room, and Devin grabbed the middle morpher. It was red, with a crude Tyrannosaurus Rex head. Devin affixed it to his wrist, and in the back of his mind, he heard something like a tiny roar. The eye on the Tyrannosaurus flashed.

To his left, Krista picked up the yellow morpher, with a pointed face. "It's a Pterodactyl," she remarked, strapping it on.

On Devin's right, Derrick moved quickly to grab the remaining morpher, casting surreptitious looks at the other two. His was blue, in the shape of a Triceratops. The words "This is crazy," had barely left his mouth when the eyes of the three dinosaurs flashed at the same time, and the morphers turned into wide silver bracelets, each baring one of the colored gems from before.

"Neat," remarked Krista.

"Why do we have to wear tacky jewelry?" said Derrick with obvious distaste. "Like being stalked by dino-pineapple monster things isn't bad enough?"

Dr. Oliver and Krista both rolled their eyes.

Devin, on the other hand, was frowning at his new ornament. "What is it?"

"It's a communication device. It'll keep you in constant contact with each other, and with me and the base. It'll turn into your morpher at your command."

"How do we morph, exactly?" asked Krista.

"All you have to do is say, 'Dino Thunder, power up,' and you'll be transformed. You'll know what to do."

"'Dino Thunder'?" Derrick repeated. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Sounds like some lame video game."

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," said Devin.

"That's something only a nerd would say," said Derrick, shaking his head. "Wait, isn't the red guy supposed to be the leader?"

Devin glanced at Dr. Oliver for confirmation. He'd just picked up the red gem and the red morpher without thinking. It hadn't occurred to him that he was supposed to lead.

Dr. Oliver nodded. Derrick huffed.

"I can't believe this. How come _he_ gets to be the leader?" He gestured at Devin. "He's a nerd."

"He's not a nerd!" said Krista.

"Yeah, of course _you'd_ defend him. You're a loser too, just like he is."

Krista reared up to her full height, something dangerous flashing in her eyes. "What did you call me?"

"So spending all your time with plants and not people makes you not a loser. I see."

"Well, I can understand how intellectual pursuits aren't really your thing—"

"Guys!" cut in Dr. Oliver, and they all looked up sharply. "Look, I get that you three are from different worlds. But you're going to have to work together, otherwise, this is never going to happen. It's not going to be easy, and trust me, nobody knows that better than I do. But you have to learn to work together. Got it?"

Krista and Derrick had already resumed glaring at each other. From the way they were sizing each other up, Devin knew that they were both thinking it was completely impossible for them to work together. He certainly agreed.

"Don't worry, Dr. Oliver," he assured the science teacher hurriedly, although he didn't quite believe what he was saying. "We can get it together."

 

* * *

 

Conner's folded arms didn't provide him with the best pillow, but he was starting to fade out regardless. He stared out the window, down at the field, where the sun was beating down on the bright green grass. He could see a couple of the guys practicing passing. The grass had never looked softer or plusher, to collapse on after a good pickup game. He could swear that the net of the goal was pulled just a little tighter, that the soccer ball dancing across the field was just a little fuller. Conner couldn't get comfortable, arranging his long body at his miniscule desk. He thought he could hear some birds chirping, and a light breeze rustling, mixing with the soft, faraway shouts of the others...

He sat up abruptly, rubbing at his forehead, where the button from one of his sleeves had made an imprint. "Dude, are you going to Hayley's after this?" he asked Ethan. He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head and blinking rapidly. He looked over.

The computer genius was sitting, staring at him slightly slack jawed. "Are you talking to me?" he asked, glancing quickly around the room—in search of what, Conner didn't know. Behind Ethan, Kira was looking equally confused.

Conner was as clueless as they were. "What?"

"You just asked me if I was going to Hayley's... how do you even know about that?" said Ethan.

"Who's Hayley?" asked Conner.

"You just get weirder and weirder," said Ethan, cocking one eyebrow before returning his attention to his laptop. He shut it, sliding it into his backpack with ease. Kira was also packing up her stuff. What was going on?

Conner glanced at the clock—it was four. Detention was over. Had he been asleep that whole time? The last thing he remembered was watching practice going on without him.

And a flash of a brick building, with a green awning and enormous picture window.

Conner rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, following the others out of the room. There it was again... that pinprick feeling. That notion that something different, something was wrong. Though he was loath to admit it, Ethan was right. Things were getting weirder and weirder.

 

* * *

 

Mesogog paced in front of his soldiers. They were both wary of his wrath, now that the gems had been activated. They weren't entirely sure what the rocks were capable of, merely that they were a great source of power, one that would be beneficial to their plot.

The failure of the Tyrannodrones was one Mesogog took personally, since he'd been instrumental in their creation and re-programming, and hadn't expected them to be so easily defeated by a handful of wayward teenagers. Of course, the art of science was the process of trial and error. Now that he knew the error, it could be fixed. The drones were locked away in the modification chamber, being rewired once more, but they were inconsequential, now that their main weapons were operational.

"Zeltrax, is our aerial attack craft in position?" he demanded of his first officer with a hiss.

Zeltrax gave a curt nod, lowering his head respectfully. "It is."

"Good. When the BioZords have completed the first strike, launch an aerial assault. The citizens of Reefside will think that idiot Lothor has returned to town. They won't know what's hit them... until it's too late." He snarled in delight. The inability to acquire the gems was a minor setback, one that could be easily rectified once the city was in a state of panic. He wasn't terribly concerned. Everything was falling into place.

 

* * *

 

Derrick settled into his chair in the back of homeroom the next morning, glaring at the other kids. Devin, of course, was up in the front with Cassidy, nodding along to some nonsense about fluorescent lighting making her look pasty. Derrick couldn't believe that the spineless geek was supposed to be leading the team, because he couldn't even stand up to his own girlfriend. If Derrick had had the opportunity to pick and choose his teammates, Devin would be so far removed from the list. As would Krista, who thankfully had a different homeroom, and was out of his face. She'd spent the entire drive home from Dr. Oliver's cabin babbling away about saving the trees and the whales and the whatevers. He'd practically fallen asleep.

Dr. Oliver came into the room, followed closely behind by a handful of students, including Conner, scrambling to their seats just as the bell rang. The teacher was clutching a wad of papers under his arm, which he plopped dramatically on his desk, and clapped his hands for attention. "All right, who can tell me when it all began?" he asked.

No one got the chance to answer, because the room started shaking. Derrick's backpack fell to the floor, and behind him, a few beakers slid out of their cabinet, smashing glass everywhere. His stool wobbled underneath him, and he grabbed at the lab table to keep himself steady. They'd had plenty of earthquakes before, but there was something different about this one.

The lights flickered, and then went out completely, leaving the room eerily black. It was peculiar, because there should have been sun from the open windows.

A few tense seconds later, the school's emergency generator kicked in, bathing the classroom in orange light. Chaos had taken over in the few moments of darkness. No one was in their seat. People were slipping out into the hallway to see what was going on in the rest of the school, and anyone who wasn't at the door was at the window, looking out into almost complete darkness. Derrick numbly got up and joined the window crowd, hearing scattered conversation all around him.

"The sky just went black in the middle of the day," Cassidy chirped hysterically next to him.

"Actually, Cass, it's still the morning," said Devin.

"Dude," someone announced, taking off one of his headphones. "There's some kinda whack report about mechanical dinosaurs attacking downtown."

Now that was definitely unusual. Derrick glanced over towards Dr. Oliver questioningly, but then jumped back, lost in the crowd, when a jolt of white lightning struck nearby.

"Grab your camera," commanded Cassidy, grabbing Devin's arm. Her reporter's instinct was clearly a stronger force than her apprehension. She darted towards the door with her hapless sidekick in tow.

"Wait. Hold it, you two," said Dr. Oliver. Cassidy jerked to a stop, Devin half-smiling gratefully at Dr. Oliver.

The intercom system still worked, apparently, because the one in the room crackled to life with Principal Randall's voice. "Students, remain calm. The mayor has declared a state of emergency. Please report to the front of the school for immediate dismissal. Again, remain calm."

"Sweet, free day," said Conner, already shouldering his backpack.

"Idiot," muttered the freaky singer chick under her breath.

Cassidy hurried out with the crowd, not noticing that Devin wasn't at her side. Instead, he went to Dr. Oliver's desk to join him and Derrick.

"What's going on?" asked a breathless Krista, breaking off from the throng of people rushing through the hallway, and coming into the classroom. "Does this have anything to do with the... the... you know?"

Dr. Oliver nodded gravely. "If Mesogog revived the BioZords, we've gotta act fast. Come with me."

Although they were only a few minutes behind, the school's parking lot was nearly empty. The students followed Dr. Oliver to a black Jeep. "See, this is the kind of transportation I'm talking about," said Derrick approvingly. "Shotgun." But Devin was already climbing into the passenger seat. "You've got to be kidding me," said Derrick. "Move, squirt."

"Would you get over yourself for five seconds?" said Krista. "He's supposed to be the leader, let him ride in front."

"And you're supposed to be the tree-hugger," retorted Derrick. "Why don't you walk."

"Guys," said Dr. Oliver sharply. "Get in the car."

Glaring at each other, Krista and Derrick hopped warily into the backseat.

 

* * *

 

"So these mechanical dinosaurs," Krista yelled up front over the roar of Dr. Oliver's madcap driving. "You know them?"

"BioZords," he called back. "Machines fused with dinosaur DNA."

"You build these too?" said Derrick.

"I'm afraid so."

Derrick leaned forward so that Devin could hear him better. "You ever wonder why some teacher guy is going off and making giant attack beasts?"

The Jeep screeched to a stop in an abandoned parking lot, practically at the feet of where three enormous machines were roaring and thrashing. "Okay, this is it," said Dr. Oliver as they climbed out.

They looked up at the beasts. Landing on top of an office building with a flap of huge wings was a Pterodactyl. She glanced down at her bracelet, remembering the yellow face from yesterday. Suddenly, she understood why the three of them were needed. She opened her mouth to confirm her theory, but a red portal opened up in the sky a few feet away, and a man-sized creature emerged.

He was humanoid, but clearly not human, seeing as how he was made completely out of metal. There was a black reflective mask where his eyes would be, but it didn't prevent Krista from feeling his nasty glare.

"Did Mesogog find a new goon to do his dirty work?" asked Dr. Oliver.

"You are not fit to speak my master's name," the guy responded. His voice was low and gravelly. "You'll have to get past me before you get those Zords."

Derrick smirked. "That's the part I'm looking forward to."

Devin stepped slightly ahead of the other two. It was time. "You guys ready?" he asked.

"Ready," they agreed, and with a small flash, their three bracelets transformed into the morphers from the day before.

"Let's do this," said Devin.

"Dino Thunder, power up!"

Morphing was peculiar. There was a sensation of heat and light, and an odd feeling like tapping into something huge and ancient. When they emerged, they were dressed head to toe in bright spandex: Devin in the center in red, Derrick to his right in blue, and Krista to their left in yellow.

"So you're Power Rangers," Mesogog's goon observed.

"Looks it," said Krista. There was a weird rush in her body, like there was something just within reach, wanting her to touch it. She wasn't any different, but yet somehow, she was stronger and faster. She just knew that she could fight.

And it looked like they were going to have to fight. A green portal had opened in the sky, bearing a swarm of Tyrannodrones. There were easily twice as many as before, and they looked uglier and meaner. "Fresh from the modification chamber," boasted the goon.

"Fantastic," remarked Devin flatly.

"Call out your weapons," said Dr. Oliver. "They're in your belt."

"Again," said Derrick, "no one's wondering how he knows that?"

Krista closed her eyes, and the image of two sharp utensils appeared in her mind. Touching her belt buckle, they became real and solid in her hands, two bright yellow daggers. Derrick had called out a blue pointed shield, and Devin had commanded a long red staff. The Tyrannodrones charged.

Krista broke off to the side instinctively, raising her arms and striking out at the two drones closing in on either side. Her blades pressed into their thick shelled skin, and while she couldn't tell if she sliced, there was enough force behind it to knock them both to their sides. She lowered her arms to get some balance, and launched into an impressive spinning jump kick. It was certainly something she'd never been able to do before, something she'd never even _considered_ doing before.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Devin swinging his staff in a wide, low circle, sweeping several drones over. Derrick was charging headlong into his opponents, ramming into them with his shield and tossing them clean over his back. By the Jeep, Dr. Oliver was exchanging blows with the crazy goon, who seemed to be wielding a trident of some sort. Dr. Oliver was clearly a fighter, and a good one at that, but while he was holding his own, in the long run, he wasn't going to be able to defeat the goon. Krista chopped into the shoulder of one of the drones, and when he staggered backwards, she jumped and landed a series of kicks to his chest, sending him flying back into a pile of other drones, knocking them all over and leaving her free to go to Dr. Oliver.

"Devin!" she yelled, stopping short of the battle, and the Red Ranger glanced over. "Help Dr. Oliver!" she said.

Devin took a running leap, and flew through the air to strike the goon firmly across his armored back with his staff. The goon fell to the side, but got up surprisingly quickly for so thick and large a creature. "You shall pay for that," he declared, and two lights flared on the side of his visor, shooting red lasers at the Rangers. The fire exploded around Krista, and all three of them fell back, stumbling to their feet.

"Rangers, combine your weapons," said Dr. Oliver, and Krista glanced at the others. Like the rest of it, the knowledge on just how to do that was completely instinctual, coming out of a part of Krista that she didn't know existed. Derrick lay his shield on top of Devin's staff, and Krista attached her daggers on either side. The device roared to life, and Devin commanded, "Z-Rex Blaster! Ready—"

"FIRE!" the three Rangers yelled. A bright flash of light turned into a thick laser beam, cutting through the blackness, and slamming into Mesogog's goon. He went soaring through the air, and they whooped in delight at victory.

It didn't seem to be over, however. He got to his feet. "You showed me your weapons. Now meet mine!" With an inhuman growl, the goon disappeared into another red portal, and before the Rangers could interpret this, a huge ship sailed through the air, a scorpion-like tail waving lazily through the air behind it. The craft fired lasers from its underbelly, and the Rangers dove out of the way.

"How are we supposed to fight that?" panted Devin.

"You have to tame the Zords," said Dr. Oliver.

"We have to what?"

"Concentrate," he said plaintively. "Your morphers will communicate your thoughts to them."

"Is anyone else listening to this?" demanded Derrick. "The dude wants us to use _telepathy_ on _giant robot dinosaurs_."

Krista understood, however. She had guessed correctly after all. She stepped forward, looking up at the Pterodactyl, which was flapping its wings to release a powerful gust. It was just a giant bird, really, and Krista loved birds. She'd had a pet sparrow as a child, one that had fallen out of its nest. She'd nursed it back to health and released it into the wild. This was the same thing, just on a much, much larger scale.

"We can be friends," she said soothingly. "I won't hurt you. Just trust me." She raised her yellow morpher in the air. "Please."

With an almighty screech, the PteraZord displayed its full wingspan, its eyes flashing red. A wave of bright light trailed up its body, and its colors changed from mottled gray and brown into bright yellow to match her morpher.

"That all?" said Derrick incredulously. "Yeah, big deal." He raised his gaze towards the Triceratops, which was using its powerful front horns to break a few windows. "Hey, big guy. Tell you what, we can kick some butt together, you and me. Sound cool?" he asked, lifting his morpher.

The TriceraZord trumpeted in the air as it turned blue.

They all jumped as the Tyrannosaurus tail, spinning like a drill, toppled a tree like it was made out of toothpicks. "Oh no! Devin, the TyrannoZord is out of control!" cried Krista.

Devin raised his arm, displaying the morpher for the dinosaur to see. "I'm on your side," he promised. "C'mon."

There was a long moment, until the Zord finally tilted its head back with a bellowing roar, turning red. They had done it; they had gotten control of the rampaging BioZords. "Only one more thing to do," said Dr. Oliver. "Bring 'em together."

"Piece of cake," said Devin.

The Rangers jumped into the air, getting sucked into a nothingness before being dropped into the cockpits of their Zords. A large ball appeared in front of each of them, which they discovered they could control with their thoughts, connected telepathically with their Zords. They used this to bring the three beasts together to form a giant Megazord, with a Triceratops head for one arm, and a Tyrannosaurus tail for the other.

"Your robot is no match for me," sneered the goon piloting the aircraft, shooting bullets of laser fire at them. Distracted by the bright lights and smoke as their Zords got hit, the Rangers didn't notice the emerging tentacles until it was too late. The offending appendages wrapped thickly around the Megazord, and transferred an electrical charge down them.

"It's burning up in here!" Derrick yelled.

"I can't break free," said Devin. The Megazord twisted this way and that, but couldn't seem to break the bond of the tentacles.

"We have to get up onto that ship," said Krista, struck with an idea. "He can't hit us if we're on him."

"Good idea," said Devin. "Derrick, can you get us loose?"

Derrick nodded, jerking his hand over the controls. The Triceratops head thrashed, its horns slicing through the tentacle rope easily and freeing one side. Devin then used the other rope to make a running, Tarzan-like swing through the air. The momentum carried them into the sky, and they thrashed free of the tentacle just long enough that Krista manipulated the Pterodactyl wings to coast them down on top of the scorpion ship.

"There!" said Devin, pointing at a series of pulsating blue lights. "That must be the heart of the ship. Let's go through it." He revved the Tyranno tail, and used the Dino Drill to spear clear through the heart, through the ship, and back down to the ground. The Megazord landed just as the aircraft exploded, sending a shower of sparks down on the Rangers.

"We did it!' squealed Krista. "I can't believe we actually did it."

 

* * *

 

Mesogog, on the other hand, was in less of a party mood. Zeltrax's head was bowed in shame before him, and Mesogog was beginning to severely regret that he had rebuilt the cyborg. "So," he said slowly, savoring the fear etched onto Elsa's face as he lectured them. "Oliver has taught them to become Rangers."

"Our deepest apologies, sir," rasped Zeltrax. "We should have foreseen this development."

"Yes. You should have." All of Mesogog's fury became concentrated on the peak of his brow, where his grotesque reptilian skull curved sharply. From there, he issued a yellow ray, one that went from his head straight into those of his minions, along with a healthy dose of intense, searing pain. They both fell to their knees, clutching at their craniums and screaming in agony.

"Let this be a lesson," he said, raising his rough voice to be heard over their whimpers. "I do not take defeat lightly."

 

* * *

 

"You guys did great out there," said Dr. Oliver when the four of them had returned to his underground headquarters. "I'm very proud."

"Thanks, Dr. O," said Devin.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," admitted Krista, glancing at Devin and sharing a grin.

"Except I've just got one question," said Derrick. "You seem to know what you're doing. What we should be doing. What aren't you telling us?"

Dr. Oliver nodded seriously. "I'll fill you in. In time." Off of his students' skeptical looks, he added, "I promise."

"Do you think Mesogog and his friends will stick around?" asked Krista.

Dr. Oliver glanced at a spot slightly behind them. "Unfortunately, they always do." He smiled. "But I think you guys can handle it—provided you can put aside your differences long enough to work together."

The three glanced at each other uncertainly.

 

* * *

 

Conner stood at the window in his room, watching the daylight return to the sky. He knew his weird feeling had nothing to do with the random attack on the city today—and yet, it had everything to do with it. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew.

Something wasn't right.


	5. Chapter 5

Hayley cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder, scrubbing feverishly at the countertop. Tommy was regaling her with the events of yesterday's battle. She had heard stories from all of her patrons, and watched the news coverage, but it was better to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. "The kids looked pretty good out there," she said.

"They mastered the Zords, they took down the assault craft, and they ended the threat," agreed Tommy.

She sensed there was something he wasn't saying. "But."

Tommy sighed. "I'm not sure."

"You hand-selected them, Tommy. Besides, the gems wouldn't have bonded if these kids couldn't handle the power, you know that."

"I know. It's the teamwork thing that I'm concerned about. How are they ever going to fight Mesogog if they can't stop fighting each other?"

Hayley agreed, but it wasn't her place to say, not just yet. What Tommy needed to hear right now was assurance that he'd made the right decision. "It was their first day on the job. It'll get better." She noticed out of the corner of her eye a spill stain by the register. She swiped her rag over it, but it was sticky and unrelenting. She sprayed something heavy-duty on it, and went to work.

"I guess you're right," he conceded, but she was only half-listening. "I guess my larger concern would be getting them all to pass at the end of the year."

"Uh-huh," she said noncommittally. "Stupid stain..."

"Hayley?"

"Out, damn spot!" she muttered, putting all of her weight into it.

"Have you gone and killed King Duncan again?" he asked.

"No, just occasionally like to illustrate evidence of my high-falutin' education."

"And here I thought that you slept through most of your courses."

"Now you sound like my mother. I _am_ turning a profit, I'll have you both know. I'd be turning more if I stopped giving a certain science teacher free drinks."

"You act like I come in and suck it straight from the spigot."

"You might as well, for how much you're costing me." There! Her counter sparkled once more. Satisfied, Hayley leaned back. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"School doesn't start for another half hour yet."

"Oh, yes, and you're well-known for your promptness." The bell over the front door made a tinkling sound, and Hayley looked up. "First customer of the day, Tommy. I'll see you later."

"You mean you'll insult me more later."

"That, too." With a smile, Hayley hung up the phone and turned to her regular. Since her 'Space catered largely to the local high school crowd, it was never busy in the morning, and Hayley didn't bother with a morning staff. It was a high contrast from the afternoons and the weekends, in which the place was packed. There seemed to be no middle ground, but she liked the variety of it.

"Morning, Ethan. You're here early." Ethan James had been coming in since she opened the place, always offering free advice on maintenance issues. Since computers were her forte, Hayley had been hesitant at first to listen to a kid, but Ethan proved to be something of a genius-in-training when it came to the machines, and she'd grown fond of his presence.

"My laptop's on the fritz," he said. "I think I got a virus after I hacked into that..." he trailed off, and put on a large, overly casual grin. "Since I went to that forum about good study habits."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Ethan. Hand it over. You want a muffin?"

"Am I going to have to pay for it?"

"Well, it's either the dollar-fifty for the muffin, or it's the going rate for my services. You make the call."

"Muffin it is!" he said cheerfully, coming around the counter to help himself to a blueberry muffin. He punched in the appropriate button on the register, deposited the cash, and took his receipt.

Hayley watched this all out of the corner of her eye and shook her head. "You're in here way too often." Struck with an idea, she looked up. "Actually..."

"What? Oh, no way. I know what you want to ask." He glanced unsubtly at the bay window, where the sunlight streaming through made the thick red letters bleed through the white paper backwards on her 'Help Wanted' sign.

"Come on, Ethan. You know the price of everything, you can work the register, and you can help anyone who has a computer question. You'd be perfect for this job." She patted the counter. "There, all fixed."

"Yeah, and I told you the last time, I'm not interested."

"I can see how you wouldn't want to forgo all of your free time, which is so well spent on..." She checked his history, her eyes widening in surprise. "_This_ is what you crashed your computer for?" she said. "I hope no one saw you doing this on any of _my_ terminals..."

Ethan reached over her, snapping his laptop shut and securing it under his arm. "Thanks for the help, Hayley, gotta get to class. See you!" He darted out the door.

Hayley laughed to herself, going over to turn on the shake machine. One of the things she loved about this job was the people she met through it. One of the other things she loved was the free time it devoted towards helping Tommy with getting his Ranger team set up. If she was going to have a genius IQ and an expensive college education, she was going to put it to good use.

The bell tinkled again, and she looked up from chopping bananas. A Hispanic boy, high school age, was wandering in, looking around the place and taking in everything. "Are you open?" he asked hesitantly.

Hayley smiled. "Sure we are. What can I get you?"

"Actually, I was here about the sign in the window." He pointed, and Hayley found herself staring at the object in question for the second time in fifteen minutes.

"Looking for a job?" she said, a little relieved.

"Yeah," he said. He stuck out his hand. "I'm Trent Fernandez."

"Hi, Trent," she said, shaking obligingly, though a little surprised. Hand-shaking was not one of the personality quirks of her usual patronage. "I'm Hayley. The job in question basically entails scut work at the moment. Bussing tables, policing the terminals, things like that. It's not glamorous, but if you show that you can handle it, you can might find yourself moving up the ladder into the delightful world of part-time management."

Trent smiled. "Sounds fine."

"And hey, shouldn't you be in school?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well...it's a bit complicated," he said.

Hayley had spent the last two weeks hacking into security systems all over the city in the hopes of wiring useful camera feeds into the base. This kid knew nothing about complicated. "Try me."

"We just moved to town last week. I was supposed to start at Reefside High, but for some reason my dad pulled me at the last second. He's trying to get me into Lovell Academy instead. Says it's 'safer.'"

Lovell Academy had a rep for being expensive, prestigious, competitive, and a bit of a brain farm, but it was only a day school, and was no better or worse in terms of security than Reefside, really. Hayley shrugged, who was she to judge. "All right. Well, anyway, here's the appropriate paperwork. If you can get it to me by tomorrow, that'd be great. I'd like to start you at the end of the week, if that's okay."

"All right, cool," he said. "I can do that. Thanks a lot, Hayley."

"No problem," she said. Other bosses might not be so lax about their hiring policies, but Hayley had always trusted her gut, and her gut was saying that Trent was a good kid. Besides, she needed the extra hands, and she couldn't bother Ethan forever.

"I'll be here tomorrow," Trent promised, ducking out the door with a shy sort of smile.

* * *

The following morning, Hayley stopped by the base—going in through the woods entrance so as not to wake Tommy and interrupt his precious beauty sleep—to do her regular city scan. The alarm would go off instantly if there was a larger surge of energy anywhere, but that was more designed to cope with monster attacks and the like. It was what had first alerted her to the presence of the BioZords, although there had been a radio report moments later. In any case, a manual search was better for more low-key things, such as the readings she came across that morning. The unmistakable signatures of some of Tommy's discarded experiments.

She called in sick, headed out into the woods with the handheld reader, and was pleased to see that there was not one, but three lost eggs. She spent the day holed up in Tommy's basement, trying to train the Raptor Riders. At noon, she called up the Cyberspace to check in, and Marc informed her that 'some spiky-headed kid' had been in to hand in paperwork. Hayley's next call was to Trent to tell him he had the job, but that was cut short when the red Raptor knocked his tail into a monitor and nearly set the room on fire.

By the time Tommy came home, the Raptors had already worn themselves out. "How was work?" she asked conversationally, putting the replacement monitor into place.

"Not nearly as entertaining as your day was, from the look of things," he said. "What happened?"

Hayley beamed at him. "Guess who made some new friends."

"Hayley, that's fantastic. I hope it was something we can use."

"It's pretty much always something we can use," she said. "It's the Raptors. They just started napping, so don't you dare go over there and wake them up, because they're still kind of temperamental, and your first aid kit isn't up to par." She gave the monitor an experimental wiggle, testing to make sure it was secure. Satisfied, she brushed herself off and backed up to admire her handiwork. "How were the Rangers?"

Tommy sighed.

"That bad, huh?"

"I had to listen to Cassidy Cornell screeching at Devin for an entire period, for starters."

"I know where you're coming from," she groaned. "She came into the 'Space yesterday without him, and it was like she couldn't even function. But at least she's not a Ranger. Tell me the others are somewhat better."

"They seem to be ignoring each other, for the most part." Tommy frowned, running a hand through his short hair. The cut always amused Hayley, because when she'd first met him, he'd had more hair than she had. "When I was doing this, we were all really good friends."

"Except for when you were trying to kill them," she said cheerfully, and he glared. She knew that she was probably the only person who could get away with mentioning it casually, but even so, it still caused the man a considerable amount of pain. Which was why he was spending the rest of his life atoning for something that hadn't even been his fault to begin with. She put a hand on his arm gently. "I'm sure these guys will be okay in the end," she assured him.

"They'll need training. They don't know how to fight all that well."

"Lucky for them you're a good teacher."

"I can't teach them how to manage their powers."

"That's probably something they can figure out for themselves."

Tommy nodded curtly, and the potentially self-destructive train of thought was cut off by a sharp roar. Hayley sighed. "They're awake again. Want to take a turn at it?"

He laughed. "I think you're on your own there."

Hayley rolled her eyes at his retreating back, double-checked to make sure that anything valuable and/or breakable was tucked safely away, then mentally pushed up her sleeves and went back to work.

* * *

Conner faced the weekend with a good feeling. The rest of detention had passed without incident, once a sad-looking Mr. Reed consented to the kids bringing in headphones. The last two days had found three teenagers all listening to their own music without exchanging so much as a glance at one another. Conner was so thrilled to be free that he woke up early Saturday morning, eager to get to the field and get back in practice.

He called up Zack Clark, the team captain. He was hoping to recruit some guys, and Zack would be the one to act as switchboard for this makeshift match. "Zack, man, it's Conner."

"Conner, the rebel without a cause. Are you finally done with detention? We have a match next week against El Carro, and we need your magic feet in a big way."

"Detention-free," Conner swore. He was going to steer clear of Randall for the rest of his life.

"Great. Hey, listen, was Derrick with you?"

"Derrick? In detention? No, why?"

"Because he only showed up for one practice this week. We've been using Greg Kaplan in his place, but he isn't half as fast. I know you and Derrick are buddies, so I figured the both of you had gotten on Randall's bad side. If Derrick's not in detention, though, he has got a hell of a lot of explaining to do."

"Listen, man, how about I call him and find out? I needed to talk to him anyway."

"Tell him I'm ticked."

"Will do. See you, man." Conner hung up, not brothering to press the issue of a scrimmage later, because it sounded like Zack was a little on the warpath. Understandably so, without Conner and Derrick, there wasn't much of a team. He wondered where Derrick could be that he'd miss that much practice, and picked up his phone again to call and ask.

Conner realized that even though he'd known Derrick since his freshman year and they'd been on the team together for the same amount of time, he didn't actually know Derrick's cell phone number. Frustrated by more than merely a setback to his plan, he pulled out the phonebook, and dialed Derrick's house. "Hey, Mrs. Cole," he said, when a woman's voice answered, "I'm looking for Derrick, is he there?"

"Oh, are you from the study group?"

"No, this is Conner. From the team." Study group?

"Conner! Yes, of course. I'm sorry, Conner, Derrick's not here. I thought you were a member of the group, calling to ask about the location change. Apparently, it caused a bit of a fuss."

"Oh. Well, actually, I was looking to join the group. Could you tell me where they're meeting?"

"Sure thing. Let's see, Derrick wrote it down...ah, here it is. Hayley's Cyberspace."

Why did that name mean something to him? He knew he'd heard it mentioned somewhere before.

"Right, the Cyberspace," he lied, like he knew where it was. "Okay, thanks for your help, Mrs. Cole."

"No problem, Conner. Goodbye."

"Bye." He hung up the phone, and leaned against his kitchen counter. Hayley's Cyberspace. It sounded so familiar, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. He'd never been. He didn't know anyone named Hayley. He couldn't think why anyone he knew would go to a place with 'cyberspace' in the name. Cyberspace was like...the internet. Computers. A computer place wasn't a place for his friends, it was a place for people like Ethan James.

Ethan.

_"Dude, are you going to Hayley's after this?"_

"You just asked me if I was going to Hayley's...how do you even know about that?"

He had never heard of Hayley's Cyberspace before, and he'd just casually brought it up to Ethan like it was something they always did. Like it was a place he would hang out; like he would hang out with Ethan James. And now here it was again.

Hayley's Cyberspace.

* * *

Hayley's Cyberspace. Derrick couldn't believe he was here. Well, he could, sort of—the Hayley woman was nice, and the smoothies were unbelievably good. More accurately, he couldn't believe he was here on a Saturday, with Devin and Krista. Like they were friends or something. But Dr. Oliver had paged Derrick's ridiculous bracelet that morning after breakfast, and said there was going to be a meeting at the Cyberspace, to discuss something. Derrick didn't even know what; his mother had knocked at his door and had wanted to know who he was talking to, so he'd had to cut the impromptu page short.

When he'd arrived, Devin was spinning on a bar stool, his messy hair flapping every which way.

"All right, now that we're all here, I was thinking we should talk about what we're going to do with our powers. I think—"

"Whoa, you don't get to just start talking or anything," said Derrick. "First of all, I don't want to listen to you babble about saving fish, and second of all, Dr. Oliver isn't here."

"That's okay; I've printed up an outline, and made copies for everyone. He can still read over what he missed."

"Dude, what do you think this meeting is for, anyway?" said Derrick irritably. "Dr. Oliver didn't call it to talk about your stupid crap."

"That's because Dr. Oliver didn't call it."

"He was the one who told me to meet here this morning."

"I called the meeting. I just asked him to spread the word and pretend like it was his idea."

"Why do that?" asked Devin.

"Because I didn't think the jock would come."

"Damn right I wouldn't."

"Are you guys all set to order?" asked Hayley, coming over. She was giving them a smile that almost seemed like she knew something she wasn't telling them. More likely she was laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, the three of them being crammed in there together. Derrick might even laugh, if he didn't have to deal with it himself.

"No," he told her tightly, though he glared at Krista while he spoke, "we're still waiting on a member of the group."

"We're all set, actually," said Krista with a bland smile. "I'll have one of your—"

"No, thank you," Derrick cut her off. "We're not—"

"Guys," said Devin pleadingly.

Hayley eyed them, her face falling slightly. "I can come back." Derrick wondered why she looked upset—the Cyberspace seemed pretty full, so it wasn't like she was losing customers or anything.

Krista opened her mouth, probably about to complain again, but Derrick was so not in the mood anymore. "Fine, whatever," he said to Krista, and then to Hayley, "Could I have that pineapple thing again?"

"You could say please," Krista muttered.

"You could bite me," Derrick snapped back.

Krista made a hideous face at him, then turned to smile at Hayley extra-sweetly. "Just an apple juice, please, and a blueberry muffin?"

"Got it," said Hayley. "Anything for you, Devin?"

Devin was glancing nervously at the door and almost missed the question. "What? Oh, no, I'm good. Thanks." His gaze returned to the crowd of kids coming in.

"Who're you waiting for, Devin?" asked Derrick, amused because he already knew the answer.

"No one," said Devin hastily.

"So does this mean you lick Cassidy's boots on the weekend, too? It's not just a weekday thing?"

Devin's face fell slightly, caught and offended. "Cassidy just needs a lot of help," he said. "She's really busy."

"And you are so, so whipped. I hope you at least get _something_ out of this."

Krista groaned loudly. "You are such a pig."

"Oink."

"Here you go guys," Hayley said, handing out their orders with a wan smile. "I'll assume you're paying separately?"

"I don't do charity," said Derrick.

"See, that's just what I'm talking about," Krista said, pressing papers into Derrick and Devin's hands. "This is my proposal for what we should do with our powers," she blathered, completely oblivious to the fact that Hayley was still standing there.

To his credit, though, Devin managed to take notice of this. "Not in front of the civilians," he hissed.

Fortunately for them, the phone rang. "Hayley's Cyberspace," Hayley answered. "Tommy? Where are—" She caught Derrick looking at her, and held his gaze for a moment before turning her back to them. "Yes, they are." Derrick felt a little guilty for listening in, and was about to turn his attention, albeit reluctantly, to Krista's latest diatribe, when he spotted the last face he ever thought he'd see coming into the Cyberspace. (And the last face he wanted to see.)

Conner McKnight spotted Derrick, threw up his hand in a wave, and started to walk over.

"You know, you think just because you're red that you get to dictate meetings?" demanded Krista of Devin in an loud, high, incredulous voice. "How incredibly sexist and fascist of you."

Devin shook his head. "It has nothing to do with that."

Conner reached the bar. His eyes fell over the hoards of nerds hunched over computers, the screeching hippie, the president of the Reefside AV Club, and finally landed on Derrick. "I didn't believe it when I heard it," he said. "What the hell are you doing here, bro?"

"Study group," Derrick rattled off the excuse he'd given his mother, trying to keep his voice even. It was the only viable reason why he would be hanging out with Krista Stewart and Devin Del Valle ever. Well, the only excuse that didn't involve soccer balls to the face.

Now that was something to consider.

Conner shook his head slightly. "Zack's ticked, man. He said you missed practice all week?"

Not all week. He'd been there...Monday? Tuesday? He knew he'd been there at least once.

"Whatever, man," he scoffed. "I don't need to practice."

"Derrick?" interrupted Krista. "Are you quite done socializing yet? We have work to do." She tapped her finger against the stack of outlines on the counter.

Conner glanced over his shoulder at her, and Derrick felt a wave of embarrassment. Krista, inexplicably, was wearing a bright yellow vest over her usual floofy dress, and it made her look like a crossing guard. Plus, she had dirt in her hair. She looked like a crazy person, and that reflected so badly on Derrick, who just last year had dated every girl on the junior varsity cheerleading squad.

Krista regarded Conner flatly in response, but he didn't blink. Finally, she huffed and made shooing motions with her hands. Conner cocked an eyebrow at Derrick. "Cute, but annoying."

"I wasn't even going to give her cute," Derrick sighed.

"Can you get out of here?" said Conner. "I mean, it's only the first week of school, how big of a project could you possibly have?"

A loud buzz cut through their conversation, and all the teens turned to look at Devin, who was pulling his cell phone out of his pocket with a sheepish expression. "Oh, hey, Cass. No, I'm...I'm sick."

"DEVIN!" came the response, loud enough that Devin winced and had to hold the phone out to preserve his eardrum, unfortunately inflicting Cassidy Cornell's wailing on the rest of them. Devin shrugged at his audience.

Derrick's entire reputation was so dead if he couldn't find a way to smoothly salvage this in the next ten seconds.

"Conner McKnight, right?"

They both looked over at the sound of Hayley's voice.

"Yeah," said Conner cautiously.

"Soccer forward extraordinaire, if my sources are correct." She smiled. "You know, I'm surprised you two aren't at the open tryouts for the Reefside Waves." The Reefside Waves were the best soccer team in the state, one of the top five in the country, and if you came with Wave accolades, you stood a very good chance at going pro.

Derrick gaped. "Open tryouts?" How could he have missed what was probably the best thing to ever happen to him?

"Yeah," Hayley said. "At their practice field right now."

Conner flashed his widest grin, the one that got him everything he wanted. "You're kidding, right?"

"No."

Without another word, Conner turned away and started heading for the door. Derrick hastily climbed off his stool, shouldering his backpack. "I'm coming with," he announced, following his teammate.

"Derrick!" Bouncing impatiently, he turned. Krista and Devin were staring at him. "The meeting?" said Devin.

"You don't understand, bro. These are the _Waves_." Derrick smirked, brandishing Krista's flyer. "You guys go on without me. I'll catch up." He gave them a mock salute, glad to be out of there, and chased after Conner.

* * *

Devin watched Derrick go with a vague sense of failure, which he quickly forgot when he realized that Krista was radiating disgust. "Do you see what I mean?" she asked Devin despondently. "He's a flake." She gave a very Cassidy-like sigh, one that indicated that this was the worst thing to happen to her since the beginning of time. "You know, it's okay, though," she continued. "Now that Derrick's gone, you and I can go over the outline without being interrupted by his immature and unintelligent commentary. Let's get a table," she said, gathering up her papers. With some difficulty, she managed to balance both her food and her propaganda, and then shoved Derrick's abandoned smoothie into Devin's hand. "Here. He won't be needing it."

Devin took a few anxious tugs at his straw, but he had calmed down considerably after Cassidy's call. Cassidy had yelled at him for several minutes, but she seemed to buy the illness excuse, and in turn, that had bought Devin at least the weekend. He felt guilty about lying to Cassidy, especially since she was about to start yet another big expose, and could use his help, but he knew that some things were just more important.

He sat down next to Krista at one of the round tables, and began to skim her handout. The manifesto contained a list of all the charities that could benefit from the celebrity endorsement of the Power Rangers. Devin liked the theory fine—why just use the Zords to save the world, when they could do so much more?—but he couldn't help thinking that Krista was being a little over the top about the whole thing.

"Krista, I don't know if using Derrick's super-strength to relocate the warehouse district is the best of ideas," he said uncertainly, but when he looked up from the page, Krista wasn't paying attention. She was, like he had been earlier, staring at the door. Somehow Devin doubted she was afraid that Cassidy might show up. "Krista?"

"Who's that?" she asked, her voice taking on a completely different quality than the tone he was used to. She sounded a little less brash, a little more breathy.

Devin turned to look. A guy had just come in the 'Space: short, Hispanic, attractive (Devin supposed—he was a dude, after all), and looking lost. Krista was losing focus over a guy! Devin smiled, glad to finally see a break in Krista's chilly exterior. "Are you okay?" he teased. "Do you need something? Do you want me to call a paramedic?"

She glared at him, but only for half a second. "Shut up." Then she hit his arm fiercely, turning around. "Shut _up_."

"I wasn't saying anything."

"He's coming over here," she whispered, bending over her papers and beginning to scribble fiercely on the top page.

"Hi, I'm looking for Hayley?" the guy said. "I'm supposed to start work today."

"If she's not at the bar, then she's probably just taking someone's order," said Devin. "She'll probably be back in a minute. Hey, haven't I seen you around before?" The guy did look vaguely familiar.

"You might have. I just moved to Reefside last week. I'm Trent."

"Devin. And this is Krista."

Krista raised her head, flashing Trent a smile. "Hi."

"Do you guys go to the high school?" he asked, addressing both of them but watching Krista.

"Yeah," she said cheerfully. "Have you started yet?"

"No."

"Come find me when you do. You'll like it, I promise."

Devin coughed in an attempt to cover up his laugh. Krista didn't notice, but Trent might have, and before he could say anything, Hayley came over. "Trent. Good timing. Come with me, and I'll get you started."

"I guess I'll see you guys later," Trent said, waving as Hayley escorted him away. "Bye, Krista."

"Bye!" she said, and once he was out of earshot, she turned to Devin and said, "All of our meetings will be held here from now on."

Devin only smiled, deciding that he didn't know Krista well enough to get away with teasing her. "Anyway, about the manifesto. I like the idea, but I'm not sure if these are the right organizations that we should be helping out. I mean, the Horticultural Society—"

"The Society!" cried Krista, her eyes going wide. She frantically started shoving all of the papers into her bag. "I completely forgot! Today's the meeting where we discuss our fundraisers for the next few months! I have to go."

"Uh," Devin began, but Krista was already out the door before he could finish. He did anyway. "Bye."

Derrick had tryouts. Krista had a meeting. Hayley was training her new employee. And an indignant Cassidy had informed him over the phone that she was now going to spend all day at the spa, trying to eliminate the migraine that Devin's incompetence gave her. Devin drummed his fingers on the table, suddenly faced with an afternoon of nothing to do. He pulled Krista's abandoned juice over to his place at the table, and took a sip. He smiled.

* * *

"Well?" demanded Mesogog.

Elsa struggled to keep her poker face. "Well what, sir?"

"Where's my explanation?"

To her left, Zeltrax spat out, "My lord, we offer no excuses, only apologies and the promise to improve our performance."

Mesogog, the leather of his long jacket swishing with every step, came to rest a mere foot away from his subordinates. "Is this correct, Elsa?" he asked, leaning in to invade her personal space. "Am I to understand that you feel no need to explain yourself?"

Elsa only required a few milliseconds to gather her thoughts before answering as diplomatically as she could. "Lord Mesogog, it is in my humble opinion that it would be a waste of your valuable time. Time better spent destroying Dr. Oliver and his new Power Rangers."

"Exactly the answer I was looking for," the lizard of the lair declared, his scaly face mere inches from Elsa's own. Elsa had to turn her head to escape the pungency of her master's breath, and while it provided a brief respite, she regretted the gesture, because it made her seem that much weaker. Still, she plastered on the familiar black smirk that had earned her such favor in the past.

Mesogog stepped away, resuming his nefarious pacing. "Now. Have you had any luck in tracking down what we discussed earlier?"

"We know they're out there," Elsa offered. Finding egg signatures was the easy part. Pinning down their location was a lot harder. Zeltrax wasn't much use at the console, either.

Mesogog settled onto his throne, waiting.

"Oliver has not made his move yet," rasped Zeltrax. "When he does, we will be there to stop him."

There was a distinctly murderous glint in their master's yellow eyes. "You had better be."


	6. Chapter 6

The ball was coming right for him.

Conner positioned his foot, the ball connected, he kicked, and the ball arced neatly across the field, soaring over the heads of the coach and the coach's assistant, and then it was nothing but net. Very few goalies had the power to stop Conner McKnight on a good day.

"Yeah," he laughed to himself, but restrained from executing the victorious fist pump, because he realized that the coach was now watching him, and he didn't want to appear too cocky.

"Skills, bro!" enthused the tall black man next to him, raising his hand for a high five. Conner accepted the gesture, because it was one thing to be cocky, and it was another thing to leave a dude hanging.

He glanced over to see how Derrick was doing. Derrick was the only person at tryouts that Conner knew; at least, the only person from RHS. Conner did recognize a few guys from opposing teams that Reefside had crushed in finals: Steve Bergen from Stone Canyon, Michael Beecher from Sunset Cape, Eddie Donaldson from Silver Hills. Beecher was a goalie, Donaldson was defense. Bergen was fast, but his kicks strayed a quarter of the time. Which left Conner free to focus on the people that he didn't know. Older guys from club teams, for the most part. Slightly more intimidating than the high school hacks he usually went up against. Conner was up for the challenge.

It looked like Derrick was, too. He'd never seen his teammate play so well before. Conner liked the popularity and the scores of admiring girls that came with being a soccer star, but the reason he was so up on his game was because he honestly loved the sport. He liked watching it, he liked thinking about it, and he loved playing it. Derrick, in Conner's experience, had always been just as much into the popularity and power part that came with a good game. Frankly, Conner had never suspected that his friend loved the sport like he did. He was a little relieved to see Derrick go all out, pulling out some excellent defensive moves against the competition.

Of course, this was good news for Conner, too. He and Derrick had always worked well together and it didn't hurt to have a teammate who already knew how to anticipate his moves.

"All right!" the coach yelled. "Let's kick it up!"

Conner wiped his hair from his forehead and laughed through his sweat. He was only getting started.

* * *

Devin gave one last suck at the straw, until the glass was so empty of excess smoothie it was practically clean and new. He acknowledge the stares from the disgusted couple at the table next to him with an embarrassed smile and returned his attention to the Cyberspace laptop. He couldn't think of the last time he'd been online, leisurely checking his email without Cassidy next to him. The silence was sort of nice, but his inbox was empty and he was a little bored. He was just about to start a round of Detonation Man when his bracelet beeped.

Taking a quick look around to see if anyone was watching, Devin ducked into the alcove that gave the Cyberspace its kitschy charm. Fortunately, the other patrons found straw-sucking far more irritating than weird beeps, so no one was paying him any attention. "Dr. Oliver, you've got Devin," he answered.

"Devin, we've got trouble down at the end of Riverside Road. Tyrannodrones."

Devin checked his watch out of habit, as though it could tell him exactly how long it'd take him to get there. "I'll be there as soon as I can," he promised.

"You might need the others as backup," Dr. Oliver warned. But then the communication cut out, and Devin headed for the door, waving to Hayley as he hurried.

* * *

Coach Robert Beckman had been with the Waves over a decade, and had seen a number of rising stars. There were players with ego but no skill, and skill enough, yet without any ambition. But he'd never seen anyone quite like the kid in the red uniform who was playing like he thought he was in the World Cup. He scored a number of goals, but never hogged the ball. He recognized the give-and-take nature of the game, which only served to make him even more of a superstar player when given the chance to shine.

"Who is that kid?" he asked his assistant coach, Damian.

Damian didn't even need Robert to point the kid out in order to answer. "That's Conner McKnight. He's still in high school. Plays on the local club team."

"High school?" He'd be the youngest player on the Waves since Alex joined three years ago, nineteen, from the community college. Robert could probably fit McKnight on as a reserve player. He watched McKnight score another goal effortlessly, and thought it'd be worth the trouble that came with parental involvement to get the kid's skills.

Damian shrugged. "The guy's reputation precedes him, what can I say. Made varsity as a freshman. If there's any kid trying out with a chance to go pro, hell, if there's anyone already on the Waves with a chance to go pro, McKnight's it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Robert said dryly, but he was glad for Damian's assessment. The man was nothing if not honest and Robert had always trusted his judgment. "Any other high school kids I should worry about?"

Damian checked his clipboard and pointed out the husky kid currently blocking Jones, Robert's star player, preventing him from getting anywhere near the net. "That's Derrick Cole, also on the RHS team. Great defense, works well with McKnight."

Robert studied Cole. He was fast, but not fast enough, but he did have strength and intimidation going for him. Unlike McKnight, he seemed to realize this was a tryout, and Robert could see him calculating every move, even as he gave McKnight a high five for a job well done. "They're not a package deal, are they?" he said.

"No."

"Good." He was running a soccer team, not happy hour at some teen hangout. Then he was forced to blurt, "Where's he going?" Cole was taking off running for the edge of the field. "Where're you going?" Robert demanded in a shout.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Cole shot over his shoulder.

If there was anything Robert refused to tolerate, it was a lack of commitment. Never taking his eyes off Cole's retreating back, he muttered to Damian, "Cross him off the list."

* * *

Krista was usually supernaturally focused, so it was of great amusement to the members of the Horticulture Society and of great embarrassment to Krista when their teen chair got caught unawares during yet another fund-raising discussion.

"Krista?" Fawn Lewis asked, her rough voice luring Krista away from pleasant thoughts about Trent-from-the-Cyberspace's nervous smile.

"What?"

Fawn smirked, as though Krista's distraction was the perfect example of the uselessness of teenagers, and why Fawn was so much better suited to being chairperson. "I was just wondering if you'd like to weigh in on the fundraiser. Have you finished your baking?"

Krista bristled. "Yes." She always felt like Fawn was setting her up for a colossal fall; Fawn no doubt knew that Krista wasn't exactly a pastry chef, and even her from-the-box chocolate chip cookies rarely got sold.

"But actually, Fawn, I've been thinking about the upcoming rally. You know, the one to stop Anton Mercer Industries from polluting the lake? I've been working on getting the support of Reefside High's science department, not to mention the backing of a popular local business."

Fawn raised an eyebrow, looking around at some of the other members dubiously. "No offense, Krista, we find your initiative impressive, but a few high school teachers isn't exactly the backing we need to make a difference."

Some of the members were nodding in agreement with Fawn, and Krista struggled to maintain her cool. For someone who liked to think of Krista's age as a weakness, Fawn was certainly playing the Society meeting like a high school popularity contest. "Every little bit helps," she reminded the Society. "But don't worry. I have a plan to can guarantee turnout and donations," she said, playing her trump card in a furious attempt to wipe that smile off Fawn's face.

"How so?" Elizabeth, the treasurer, asked eagerly.

"I've arranged for a celebrity sponsor," Krista said smugly.

Fawn looked like she didn't believe a word of this. "Oh yeah? Who?"

"One of the Power Rangers," Krista said, lifting her chin in proud defiance, aware that all eyes were now on her. "All of them, schedules permitting."

"Please," scoffed Fawn. "As if the Power Rangers don't have more important things to do."

Krista grinned at the word slip. "Why Fawn, are you suggesting the Horticulture Society isn't 'important'?"

And now all eyes were on Fawn. Krista tried to withhold her triumphant smirk and succeeded only barely.

"Of course not," Fawn faltered.

"The Rangers and the Society have similar goals," Krista said with an excess of calm authority. "They just go about them in slightly different ways."

"Uh, yes, I suppose so." Fawn coughed, flashing Krista an insincere and unconvincing smile. "You know, it's very impressive that you've managed to do this, Krista." Fawn flashed her an insincere smile. "What's your secret?"

Krista smiled. "Connections."

She suddenly found herself very much in the favor of Fawn's little posse of Society members. So naturally, this was when her bracelet decided to beep. She flashed them a tight smile, clapping her hand over the sleeve hiding her jewelry before it decided to give her away further, and said, "And it looks like I'm in high demand today. I hope you'll excuse me." She got up and darted out of the room before anyone had the opportunity to object to her exit, or notice that she wasn't carrying any sort of cell phone.

"This is Krista, and you could have picked a more opportune time," she chastised.

"Uh, yeah, I'm on Riverside Road right now, and I could really use with a little," Devin grunted sharply and she thought she heard a growl in the background, "uh, assistance."

Krista let out a long sigh. "All right. I'm on my way."

* * *

At the end of Riverside Road, Devin's eyes glowed bright red as he used his powers to sweep down a line of angry Tyrannodrones.

"Looks like you got this under control," said Derrick irritably. No sooner had the words left his mouth than a drone popped up behind him and knocked him to the ground. "Oof. Never mind. A little warning would've been nice," he snapped at Krista as he got himself to his feet without any help from his teammates. He activated his powers and charged angrily into the drone that had taken him down.

"I'm sort of busy, Derrick," Krista managed to get out, before wedging one of her spikes into the shoulder area of a drone and getting it stuck there. "Ugh!" she said, pushing her foot against its chest to gain some leverage as she pulled herself free.

"Maybe we should morph?" Devin suggested. The words felt awkwardly thick on his tongue; he still wasn't used to his option of doing that, or his option of saying that to others.

"Yeah," Derrick agreed quickly. "It'll get rid of these goons that much faster."

The goons were closing in, surrounding the Rangers in a circle. It was a smarter move than Devin would've thought they were capable of, but who only knew what went on in the drones' heads. "Uh, guys?" said Krista.

"We should definitely morph," Devin said. "Ready?"

"Ready," they agreed, although Derrick sounded way too angry about it.

"Dino Thunder, power up!"

Being morphed gave them an advantage, extra speed and strength, but it didn't stop Devin from being tired as he punched, kicked, and fought his way through the thick crowd of Tyrannodrones. He was beginning to suspect something was wrong; there were too many of them and they were way too intent on attacking him ceaselessly.

Then he realized it was a distraction. The creepy guy who'd brought out the BioZords was coming out of the woods with a woman who wore a lot of leather. "Power Rangers," she snapped disdainfully. "I know you're hiding them. I just don't know how."

"Huh?" said Krista.

"Hiding what?" said Devin.

"Whatever," said Derrick, shoving himself into a drone and using sheer force to bowl several of them over. He jabbed a spandexed finger in the direction of the villains. "You know, you guys should really work on your timing—" he began, but never got to finish, because a green portal opened in the space between the tops of their heads and the forest ceiling above, sucking up the creepy guy, the leather woman, and all of the Tyrannodrones.

"What was that all about?" Devin wondered.

Derrick de-morphed in an instant. "Who cares? It's done, and now we can get back to our real lives." Just like that, he was taking off.

"He is so self-centered," Krista complained. "As though the rest of us didn't have important things _we_ were doing."

"Yeah, sure," said Devin, watching the space where the other guys had disappeared, lost in thought.

* * *

"Derrick Cole," the coach pronounced when Derrick returned, panting, to the field. The rest of the players had disbanded, although he caught sight of a few people straggling down by the net, drinking water and mopping themselves up. Derrick turned his back and pretended not to notice them. "I have you down as a DNF," said the coach, and before Derrick could ask, he elaborated, "Did Not Finish."

"Uh, yeah, and I can explain that," Derrick began, but trailed off in the face of the coach's expectant stare when he realized he didn't have a leg to stand on. What could he say? Dr. Oliver had made a point of emphasizing the whole 'secret identity' business, after all. Not that Derrick was dumb enough to blurt out the secret, but now more than ever, he wished he could. "I had, uh, personal problems."

"Personal problems," the coach said flatly.

"Yeah." Derrick shifted. He was going to kill Devin and Krista. He didn't even need special powers, he was going to use his own bare hands.

"I see. Mr. Cole," he began, and Derrick's heart sank, because nothing good ever came from a statement starting with 'Mr. your-last-name-here,' "you walked out on us. How are you supposed to earn the trust of myself and your teammates during a game, when we can't even count on your presence during a tryout?"

"I understand that, sir," Derrick faltered. He'd never called anyone 'sir' before, but thought the circumstances warranted it. "But it won't happen again, I promise."

"Mr. Cole, I need my players to demonstrate one hundred percent commitment to soccer, and to the Waves. Can you do that?"

"There's nothing more important to me than soccer," Derrick said. Well, except maybe girls.

"Judging from today's example, I can't believe that."

Derrick felt a burst of anger and couldn't control it. "Oh, come on. It was one day. Like you're really going to base your entire decision on a few crappy hours of tryout?"

But the coach was already getting up, shouldering his packed bag, and heading towards the parking lot. Derrick restrained a scream and settled for yanking a clump of grass and dirt out of the field with his cleats. A hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Man, what was that all about?" asked Conner. "Where'd you go, dude?"

"I had a problem I had to deal with," Derrick said bitterly.

"Dude. Not cool. It's the _Waves_. As if anything else compares. This is the ticket to going pro, dude!"

There were times when Derrick wanted to punch each and every 'dude' right out of Conner's stupid mouth. This was one of those times. Conner was oblivious, however, to Derrick's curling fists.

"Whatever," Derrick dismissed, trying to play it cool. "It's not like the coach was making his final decision today or anything."

"Um." Conner was chewing on his lower lip, looking unusually embarrassed. "Uh, for some of us, he was."

"No. Freaking. Way."

Conner obviously couldn't help grinning. "Dude. I made the team."

"Oh," said Derrick. "Uh. Good for you." He found himself suddenly wishing the tyranno-whatevers would come back so he could pound the prehistoric pulp out of them.

"Yo, McKnight," someone called over from the group congregating at the net. "We're heading out. You coming with?"

"Yeah, J.J., just hang on a sec," Conner yelled back.

"J.J. Jones?" Derrick said, completely not surprised that Conner was already making buddies with the best soccer forward in the state of California, while Derrick was standing around with no soccer future.

"Yeah, nice guy," said Conner. He suddenly looked down at Derrick in a rare bout of utter seriousness. "Listen, man, are we cool? You and me?"

"Sure, whatever," shrugged Derrick.

"All right, cool." Just like that, their touching moment of near-brotherhood was gone. "See you at school on Monday, dude," he said, then jogged off to join his new friends.

While he stared after them, something whacked against Derrick's shin. He looked down, it was a little soccer ball. The only person around it could have belonged to was a little girl with pigtails and a gap-toothed smile. "Kick it!" she said.

Derrick gave it a nudge with his cleat and it rolled a few inches away from him. He gave it a real kick, soft but strong, and the girl stopped it, still grinning. Great, Derrick thought, while Conner was off becoming the next Pelé, Derrick was doomed to running drills with eight-year-olds.

He had to talk to Dr. Oliver.

* * *

Devin parked his scooter in front of Hayley's Cyberspace, tucked his helmet in the back, and steeled himself for going inside. After the battle, Derrick had high-tailed it out of there so quickly it had prompted Krista to rant to Devin for twenty minutes about how Derrick had no sense of commitment or responsibility. Then she'd all but demanded he meet her at Hayley's.

When he got inside, he could see why. Krista appeared to be in the middle of dictating an ridiculously large drink order to Trent.

"And what's in the Wildberry at Heart?" she was asking as Devin approached the table.

"Hey, man," Devin greeted the beleaguered busboy.

Trent smiled, but genuinely, even though it was obvious he was tired. "Hey. Devin, right?"

"Yeah."

"Tre-ent," Krista prompted him.

"Right," said Trent, returning her attention to her. "Um, the Wildberry at Heart. It has, uh, all kinds of berries," he began, and started to turn his head to the bar. Krista snapped her fingers to redirect his gaze. Devin realized she was quizzing Trent on the menu and all of Hayley's wacky drink combinations. He wondered how she'd learned it so quickly; Devin had been coming here awhile and didn't even know the whole thing.

"What _kinds_ of berries?" she asked.

"All kinds?" he offered, punctuating it with a helpless sort of grin.

"Trent."

"All right. Um, blueberry, strawberry... raspberry?"

"And..?"

"Oh! And blackberry for some tang," he recited.

"Good," she praised.

Trent grinned at Devin. "This is tough," he said. "I really think it'd work better with a taste-test."

Krista smiled. Devin almost choked; Krista was usually so serious he hadn't thought she was capable of smiling. "Not on my salary," she said. "And not on yours, either."

"Well, I am trying to move up in the cutthroat world of smoothie peddling. But to do that, first I should probably do my actual job. I've gotta get back to work. Thanks for the tutorial, Krista."

"Anytime," she said, almost warmly.

"I'll drop by later," he promised, and disappeared into the crowd of people clamoring at the bar.

"So what's up?" Devin asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I think we're working towards a good place, but it's really too soon to tell."

"Uh," said Devin, "that's nice, I guess, but it wasn't what I meant. You called me here to talk about something?"

Krista suddenly blushed furiously and Devin realized she hadn't meant to let him see any of the previous exchange. Devin pretended the tabletop was particularly fascinating until she recovered and said, "Oh, right. You're going to be making an appearance at the anti-pollution rally next week."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I mean, I was already gonna go—"

"Not you," she said. "The Red Ranger. And the Yellow Ranger, of course. I didn't bother asking Derrick, he'd probably just pee on a tree, or something disgusting like that. He shouldn't be allowed out in public."

"Krista?" Devin said, trying to get her to backtrack her thoughts. "We talked about this, I don't think it's a good idea for the Rangers to be—"

"_We_ didn't talk about this, _you_ talked about this. You were wrong then and you're wrong now. Don't you _care_ about the environment, Devin? Don't you _care_ that the factory is plugging disgusting stuff into the lake? It used to be a pleasant place for a family to go for a picnic. Now it's a swamp. They need to be stopped. Water is two-thirds of our body composition, Devin."

"Krista, whoa, Krista," he said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture that had worked on Cassidy a number of times (although she had in once instance blared at him, "I'm not a horse, Devin, don't say _whoa_!"). "Uh, yeah, water, I got it. Look, I'm all for the Horticulture Society and its causes. I just don't think that this is the right... application of our Ranger powers."

Krista rolled her eyes. "Oh brother. I'm not asking you to scoop the goop out of the lake with your helmet," she said. "All you have to do is stand there in your shiny suit. I'll— I mean, the Yellow Ranger will do all the talking."

"That's great, but I finally talked Cass into doing a piece on it for the school news show," he said. "It's gonna be difficult for me to film it if I'm being the Red Ranger."

Krista frowned, clearly torn. Celebrity sponsorship, or media coverage? She decided on the best of both worlds, "All right, I guess just the Yellow Ranger will speak." She couldn't resist throwing in a side glare as though by letting her down, he was personally responsible for the destruction of the planet.

Devin was saved, so to speak, by Cassidy's timely arrival. Of course, he was no safer with either girl, because Cassidy was looking back and forth between him and Krista with a narrowed gaze of suspicion. "Krista," she said coolly.

"Hi, Cassidy. Devin tells me you're going to be doing a piece on next week's rally."

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Well, thank you for your support. We can use the exposure." Krista gave Devin a pointed look and even went so far to kick him under the table, completely unnecessarily.

"Uh, yeah, Cass, good news. There's going to be a special guest. One of the Power Rangers," he said.

"Really?" she said, excitement flashing across her face before she went back to distrusting. "And how do you know that, exactly?"

"Krista was just telling me," he explained.

Krista smiled with a twinge of smugness. Devin was a little embarrassed for all three of them.

"Well, I just wanted to, uh, spread the word to Devin," said Krista, getting up from her seat. "But I need to be going. It was nice seeing you, Cassidy." She didn't sound sincere. Neither did Cassidy's reply, but Krista didn't seem to notice as she made her exit. Cassidy sank into the chair Krista had vacated.

"You're not dating Krista Stewart or anything, are you, Devin?" Cassidy demanded, looking both scandalized and offended. "She's so... _creepy_. And completely unpopular! I know she has that whole plant-loving thing like you do, but honestly, Devin, you could do a lot better. Maybe you can date one of the cheerleaders. How about Ella Underwood? She's sweet, I guess. She's got legs like tree trunks, but you like trees, so it's okay. Oh, wait, no, Derrick Cole dumped her back in August, I don't think she's over it yet."

"Cass," Devin tried periodically through her entire monologue, having flashbacks. "Cassidy. Cassidy. Cassidy!"

"What?" she demanded. She hated being interrupted.

"I'm not dating Krista. We were just talking about the rally."

"Oh. I see."

Gently, he said, "Cassidy, I'd tell you if I was dating someone. You'd be the first to know. Well, after me. And her, I guess. So third, third to know."

Devin smiled, but Cassidy was still frowning and flouncing. "Well, I should hope so." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "After all, Devin, people look to _me_ for new and interesting gossip."

He muttered his agreement, mind already jumping ahead. He'd gotten Cassidy off his trail for now, there was no way she suspected the truth. But how many fundraisers and 'school projects' could he lie about before Cassidy started a real investigation?

* * *

"Dr. Oliver, we need to talk," Derrick said fiercely when the teacher finally bothered to open his front door.

"Uh, yeah, Derrick, come on in." Dr. Oliver stepped out of the way to avoid getting run over by the soccer player... former soccer player, if this kept up. "Great timing. I was going to ask to borrow someone's morpher so I could do a scan. Mind if I use yours?"

"You can keep it," Derrick said, slipping out of the hideous bracelet and shoving it in Dr. Oliver's direction. "I'm giving it back."

"Derrick?"

"I'm done," Derrick elaborated. "No more of this crap. I got called out today to fight some dino-freaks and a weird dominatrix in the woods, and while I was gone, the coach was eliminating me."

"Dominatrix? Coach? Eliminating?" Dr. Oliver was holding the bracelet and looking utterly confused.

"Yeah. I was at a tryout for the Reefside Waves. The _Waves_. But no, I had to leave, and I couldn't even give an explanation why. I told him I had 'personal problems,' like I was going through some gross girl thing. And the coach said I have a problem with commitment and I could kiss my pro career goodbye!"

"Uh," said Dr. Oliver.

"Look, I know I said I'd be a Ranger. But it's messing up my life." Derrick glared at a helpless computer monitor and wished he had Devin's power so he could just blow it up. "I want to be a soccer player, Dr. Oliver. I'm _good_ at it. I could make a career out of it. But I can't do that if I'm too busy doing this. I blew the best chance I'll ever have."

Dr. Oliver sighed, finally catching up with the conversation. "All right. I know how you feel." Derrick's skepticism must have been all over his face, because Dr. Oliver added, "Believe me. I've felt that way before. And I know I'm asking a lot of you. But. I want you to take some time to seriously consider this." He held the bracelet back out to Derrick.

Derrick just stared at it. "And if I still say no?"

"Then I was wrong."

That he didn't get. "Wrong about what?"

"About you."

Derrick frowned at the bracelet.

* * *

Trent Fernandez shuffled home after an excruciating day at work. No one had ever warned him that being a busboy could be so exhausting. Although he figured being a waiter, or at least, the Cyberspace's equivalent, wouldn't be much easier. But he liked the job and the boss well enough to want to move up in that world. Fortunately, he had Krista helping him out on that.

Trent blushed involuntarily, tossing his jacket in the closet and grateful for the cool shadows on his heated face. Krista was definitely one of the more interesting girls he'd ever met, let alone one of the more interesting people. She was incredibly intense and he got the impression that when she got something in her mind, she was singularly focused on her goal. He almost had the feeling he'd been made into one of her pet projects.

Still, Krista seemed perfectly normal compared to Devin's girlfriend. Trent couldn't figure out how such a mellow guy like Devin, who was on familiar terms with Hayley and friendly to everyone, had ended up with someone as brash and loud as the blonde who'd sat with him all afternoon. She'd snapped orders at Trent like he was her personal errand boy, while Devin kept casting him commiserating and apologetic glances.

"Dad?" Trent called out from the foyer. "Dad, I'm home." He was already formulating the half-truth he'd spit out if questioned on his whereabouts. His father had been acting cagey even a few months before the move to Reefside, and Trent knew he wouldn't be thrilled that Trent was taking a part-time job in some café, so Trent was going to keep that information confidential as long as he was able.

"Dad," Trent tried again, moving into the living room with still no answer. The house was quiet. Maybe his dad hadn't come home from work yet, or maybe he'd holed himself up in his office with the door closed. Trent knew his father didn't like being disturbed while he was working, but he hated worrying about Trent more. Trent traipsed up the staircase, figuring he'd just poke his head and announce his presence before heading off for a sandwich and a shower, not necessarily in that hour.

Trent raised his hand to rap on the office door, but as his knuckles made contact, he realized the door wasn't shut, but slightly ajar. It swung open slowly at his touch, and carefully, Trent poked his head in. "Hey, Dad, just wanted to..." But the office was empty, too.

"Shower it is," Trent shrugged, trying to repress the sigh trapped in his throat.

People took one look at the Mercer mansion and assumed Trent had an idyllic life. More often than not, though, he was lonely and bored. It was one of the reasons he'd taken the job at Hayley's Cyberspace, a way to fill his afternoons and maybe make some friends again.

He headed down the hall to the bathroom, pulling the office door all the way shut behind him. He never noticed the faint traces of green light coming from a corner of the room.

* * *

Elsa shifted uncomfortably, under scrutiny yet again for a blunder that wasn't entirely her fault.

"Please explain to me," Mesogog said in a fierce and fearsome growl, "how Dr. Oliver has managed to obtain the eggs that _you_, Elsa, claim to have been tracking."

"If I may, my lord," said Elsa, making up the words on the spot and feeling as foolishly daring as the high school students who tried to sway her with awful and obvious lies, "I have reason to believe that Dr. Oliver found the true eggs earlier, and planted false eggs with doctored energy signatures to lure us off the trail." The second the words were out of her mouth, she realized this was actually a viable solution. She met Mesogog's gaze evenly, daring him to contradict her now that she had confidence in her theory.

To her imminent relief, Mesogog seemed to buy it. Folding his arms behind his back, he began to pace and mutter. "I don't need to tell you the significance of his most recent acquisition," he said. "If Oliver trains those creatures, he will be able to use them against us. And that will be disastrous." Her master's voice was low with rage and hatred. "The time has come for Dr. Oliver to become a student instead of a teacher."

"Mm," Zeltrax simpered uselessly, nodding his empty head in agreement.

"Initiate the genome randomizer," Mesogog gave the command.

Elsa walked over to the machine and entered a command code for a creation she found interesting. "Entering DNA code," she announced. She had to announce the obvious; sometimes Zeltrax was even dumber than he looked.

"Engaging," Zeltrax followed up, flipping the switch. A yellow tube rose up with a black mass writhing inside of it.

Mesogog surveyed the experiment. "Excellent."

The door on the randomizer popped open, and a six-foot birdlike creature stumbled out, pointing its narrow beak around fiercely.

"Excellent," Zeltrax parroted his master's assessment. Elsa refrained from rolling her eyes; if Zeltrax was going to suck up, he could be a lot more original about it.

"Release it on Reefside," Mesogog commanded, settling into his throne smugly. "Lure the Rangers out, and then destroy them."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Icarus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/48818) by [NeoVenus22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22)




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